One more time for the Egrets

The 2013 Snowy Egret 5K Race in Scarborough, Maine is another race that I plan to join every year and for as long as I can run.

There are also 3 reasons why I like this race. First... the venue. Of course, driving situation is always first in my list for the major reasons and points of consideration when signing for races. Scarborough is not really close just like Gray but I am used to driving to this area. Though parking is a little bit a problem compared to Gray's.
Second... the "course", of course. LOL. This is partly a trail course which I like because it's almost summer around this time so it can be kinda hot and humid and this race take the shady part of the trail.

Third... this is a Memorial day race. Though it doesn't mean anything. LOL I just like the fact that I do something memorable this day. Whatever that means too. Toink!!!!

So just like last year, I wasn't impressed with my performance. I did 38:44 for my time with a pace of 12:28 which means I ranked 158th out of 195 participants. 

Yes, this is my 2nd time for this race. I really love this course and I plan to do it every year... so help  me God! hahahah

Running for the birdies and close encounter with the Walking Lady

This year, my goal is to run 2 races every month. So far, I was able to do it. I started last March when I celebrated my 1st Running Anniversary. The Snowy Egret 5k at Scarborough is my 8th race for 2012 and my 2nd race for the month of May.

This is my first "trail race" for this year [and hoping to do more]. I didn't know it until I ran the race. It was a nice nonthreatening course. Though it was a little humid, the shady trail kept us cool.

The race is a replay of my Maine Mall 5k experience in terms of "running". I ran this race again when I was passed by an elderly lady about sixty-ish years old who was just walking the whole time.

 

Let me tell you about this amazing woman. I saw this woman probably more than 5 times already since I started running. She seems to be all over the place. LOL And each time that we ran, she would just be walking the entire 5k race. She walks with grace like a royalty. She walks in a choreographed rhythm as if she was walking on air. She is fast and unstoppable. She never shows tiredness. She is relaxed and poised.

The race course had a one long straight route where we turn around at a certain point. On my way back I saw her from a distance in her signature graceful brisk walking coming my way. I continued jogging while a woman kept passing me by just like the one at the Mall race. By that time I was already contemplating to do the trick I did before but not really sure if I really want to or not.

 

After about 5 minutes of not-stop steady jogging, I realized that the walking lady caught up with me and she was walking right beside me and started talking to me when an spectator said... "good job" to us. It was then I realized that I was really jogging slow or maybe she was really fast. Well, I wasn't really threatened by her until that Maine-Mall-part-2 woman caught up with me again. Just in time, I saw that I was already almost 500 feet from the finish line. So, I sped up agian... sprinted... and ran as fast as I could passing again a couple of people on my way to the finish line.

I clocked in 36:08 at 11:38 pace and placing 181st out of the 225 participants. At the finish line I finally got the chance to talk to this amazing woman and boy, she is one of the nicest people I ever met. She even gave me advice on race walking and told me that she would gladly coach me to race walk. Her name is Debbie.