Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (Breast Cancer 5K)

I ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K race for Breast Cancer this past Sunday at Six Flags Great Adventure. I was part of the team set up by my Rescue Squad friend Jim Pedersen called Stone Soup. The 13 members of the team raised over $2,500.00. I would really like to thank everyone who donated to the cause on my behalf from the bottom of my heart, it really means the world to me!

All in all the day was great, I even convinced both of my parents to do the 2.5 mile walk. Everything from the location to the weather to the organization was top notch.

In the days before the race, I felt in very good condition and I predicted that I would break my previous personal record for the 5k distance of 21:04. My good running friend Brian said "You'll probably break 21:00 in your next race." Break 21:00 I did by setting a brand new PR of 20:22 for a pace of 6:34 minutes per mile. Overall, my place was 37th out of 1596 total finishers. I also placed 8th out of 90 in the male 20-29 division.

I ran my heart and feet out in this race, especially since I was wearing new shoes which I first started using three days prior. I developed blisters which I promptly lanced and I figured I would be in pretty good shape for the race. However, they did not have enough time to heal fully or develop calluses and while I experienced pain toward the end of the run, I didn't realize that blood had soaked through my shoe until about 5 minutes after the race. I ran 7 miles today which is only 2 days after the race and my feet barely hurt at all already.

Running is nothing compared to the pain that cancer patients suffer. 3 people very close to me were affected by breast cancer alone and this is the least I can do to try to help others.

Coming up in just under 2 weeks on October 28th is the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC where I will make my first earnest attempt at finishing within the 3:10 qualifying time I need in order to gain entry into the Boston Marathon.