This is a race report for Ellie’s Run for Africa on June 13, 2009.
When my friend Janna told me about this race, I knew it was going to be a great one. A race started five years ago by a 10-year old girl with a dream, taking place in Percy Warner Park, and raising money for African Leadership! Count me in.
At first, I thought the course would be on one of the trails, so I was preparing myself for my first non-joggling race. But then, I realized it would be on the cross-country course, so I was back in joggling mode. This was my first race since the half-marathon, so I was pretty excited about doing a 5k. About half a year ago, this would have been a big deal, but I was now able to go into the race relaxed and ready to have fun.
Although it wasn’t a trail course, the hilly, rocky cross-country course took a little while to get used to while juggling. I quickly realized that I needed to look down through my juggling pattern instead of straight ahead so that I could navigate the terrain. After the initial crowd of runners thinned out a bit, I found my rhythm and was really enjoying the run.
Part of the course doubled over itself near the finish line, so I passed a large crowd of spectators about half way through. As I ran past them cheering, I tried to maintain eye contact with the crowd for a bit too long and dropped a ball. That ended up being my only drop the entire race. Hopefully I’ll be able to complete a drop-less 5k soon!
Towards the end of the third mile, there was a hole in the ground that I didn’t see until it was almost too late. Luckily, I was able to adjust my landing just enough so that I didn’t twist my ankle, even though I ended up landing my foot in it and nearly lost control of one of the balls. After that, I picked up my speed to the finish line, trying to come in under 30 minutes. I thought I did, but I guess I did not see the placement of the finish line sensor correctly and slowed up to early. That will teach me to run through the finish line! I ended up with a time of 30:19, which I’m pretty happy with, but would definitely like to improve upon.
And congratulations to Janna, who finished 8th in her age group!
