Another First.....5K Race

Another first, another thing scratched off the bucket list.  I ran my very first 5K April 14, 2013.  After training off and on for two years, I finally had a chance run a 5K.  Of all the 5K races to enter, I ended up running a race called Iron Girl 2013.  This route should be familiar to me since its in my Clearwater and around the  area I usually run, specially the bridge.  The route was to go over the Clearwater Memorial Causeway and back down to Coachman park where the starting line was.  The runners consists of all women of all ages. This runners are serious about running, they are all geared up wearing belt with water holder that holds 3-4 bottles. Some got fanny pack to put their energy bar, iPods, mp3, etc.  At the starting line, runners are anxious, itching to get going.  The announcer counted down and we were off. I think there was girls as young as 5 years old running the 5K. I was impressed that girls as young as 5-yrs-old were running not just any race, but the Iron Girl race.  Funny thing about this was that those young girls are pretty much got better time than I did.   When race started, most people started running/jogging but there's also some people that started the race walking, which was fine except they were not organized like i thought they would be. Organized as in all the walkers should be toward the back of the pack and the runners towards the front, but instead some walkers where at the front, middle, and back making it difficult for the runners.  So all the runners were swerving trying to avoid the walkers.  This race for me as a beginner was brutal specially going over the bridge cause it was also windy. The winds was against you so it was much harder going up hill.  Speaking of going up hill, I noticed that some of the younger runners were either behind me or next to me as we go up the bridge.  Since it was so windy, I decided to walk it going up the bridge and save my energy for the end of the race.  Anyway by the time I reached the top of the bridge, I saw one of those younger runners were in front of me from out of no where. I thought I just passed them going up the bridge.  So, I decided to go starts running again, so at least catch up with those young athletes.  As I reached the top of the bridge with another 1.5 miles, I noticed this one young girl running already on the other side of bridge making her way to the finish. I'm impressed on how fast those girls were running. They will probably do more race than me and even bigger races like half marathon. I was embarrassed to say that those girls were beating to the finish line. Towards the finish line a lot of people wanted to finish strong, so we all started running till we crossed the finish line with a big smile for the photo finish. As I get closer to the finish line, I looked over to the side and saw my brother with his phone taking video and pictures as I cross the finish line.  When I saw him, I just flashed my pearly whites for the picture. I finished the race in the middle of the pack with the time of 44.10, which I guess is not bad for my very first 5K.  Next race will be in November for the Turkey Trot, which is also the first time I will be doing it.