Race for the Bacon 5K 2012 Recap

Friends, another race and another 4 for 4 on my goals.  I got to stretch and goof around with a Racing Sausage before the race.  My leg feels good and no new injuries.  I ran the first mile in under 9 minutes and finished in 28:20 (unofficial), which is a new personal record.  Then got to hang out with some friends, drinks some beer and eat a lot of bacon.  Taking look at my goals below, that covers all my goals.

• Have Fun!
• Finish Without Injury
• Finish in less than 30:42
• Finish in less than 29:06

Now, after I finished, and before the beer, a funny thing happened.  I turned into that guy wandering the course the cheering everyone on.  My friend John did the 10K version of the race, so I started by going around to cheer him on, but I like it when random people cheer for me, so I cheered for whoever ran past me.  It is definitely an interesting form of people watching.  Some people are just focused on the running, and I don't think they even heard me.  Others gave me a half-hearted smile with a little eye-roll on the side.  I know most of my cheers are cheesy, but hey, I'm trying here. :)

Then there were the people who were struggling.  They were the people I was really cheering for.  I'd make eye contact with them, they would give me a thank you nod, anything more would be wasted energy, and they would keep running as hard as they could.  I've been there, and I know that a couple words from a stranger can help you take that next step, and the step after, and the step after that.  If you can push yourself and just keep taking that next step, and not give up, you can finish.  For some people, that might be the encouragement and the step they need to set they own personal record.  I feel good for accomplishing my goals and setting a new personal record.  I feel better knowing I may have helped someone else reach their goals.