Organized Run

I have several friends who have entered running events. At various times I have asked why they would pay money to go and run if you have no real chance of winning. It made sense to pay to play hockey or baseball but running never really made sense.

I was convinced to enter the 5K of the Canada Army Run. Last week-end was the race and I now have a better understanding of it.

I think the first benefit of entering a run is it gives you a goal to train for. It gets you going and helps you gauge your progress. There's a reason for lacing up your shoes and heading out in the heat or the rain and running until you can produce a puddle of your own sweat. 

Race day is exciting. There are people everywhere. There are people warming up. There are people stretching. As people load into their respective corrals, the biomass grows. The gun goes off and you are running. Now the race day factor cuts in and you can do more than usual. As far as I know, until last Sunday, I had never run continuously for five kilometres. Now I can say I have. I ran the whole length in a time of 30'31". I'm pleased with that time. I figured if I ran the whole length, I would be between 30 and 31 minutes. The people cheering you on is also up-lifting. I didn't realize it would help as much as it did.

I am probably not going to run a 5K every month like some people do but I will do it from time to time and I will continue to run as part of my exercise regime. I have to say this is an example of you don't know what it's like until you try it. My life is better because I did.