Sunday Runday: Springtime Hill Climb

I placed in my age group! I am so thrilled!

I entered Springtime Hill Climb with the hope that I might be able to sneak into the top three of my age group. It was the first year of the race, not too many people were entered (66 in the 5K), and it seems like the 20′s women are never a big group of racers. I never said it out loud, but the thought was there.

The race was early. I got there at 7:00 AM, which was definitely a new record for earliest run. I was a little nervous when I went up a little hill right away, thinking that maybe the whole course would be that hilly. Luckily that was the last hill until the end of the race, and I didn’t think anything I faced was worse than what I regularly run in Iowa City.

The first mile flew by, and the second mile was mostly on a scenic trail, and then halfway through the third mile I saw my parents and Jason cheering me on to the finish.

Here I am, still smiling! Smiling up and the two big hills sitting up ahead…

My parents thought I would be dragging up those hills and they’d be able to catch me at the finish, so there were amazed when I powered up them to the finish line. They said I was going fast, but I felt like I was going pretty slow.

When I crossed the finish line Jason said Did you see your time?!? Did you see your time?!? I just looked at him blankly and he told me I ran it in under 29 minutes. A personal record for me! I was happy enough with that. Then we went over to the award ceremony and they read the awards for Women ages 20-29. They named the 3rd place finisher and when I didn’t hear my name I figured I must have been 4th to finish. Then Jason said, That’s the girl who finished right after you! And sure enough, they read my name as the second place finisher.

There is a lot of discussion on running forums about how “worthy” an award is if you won it for basically showing up. This was a small race and the competition wasn’t too tough, so it’s not surprising that I placed. However, the award still means a lot to me. In October running a mile felt impossible, and now I’ve not only run in three races, but I came in second in one. I keep getting faster and healthier, and that is what this represents to me, not just getting second place in a race.

Results
Overall time: 28:42
Pace: 9:15
Place in Women 20-29: 2/7
Place in Women Overall: 5/41
Place Overall: 20/66