Jog'r Egg Nog'r 5K

On December 18, 2010 I ran in the 2010 Jog'r Egg Nog'r 5K at Norbuck Park in White Rock Lake. A few weeks ago my friend and fellow prostate cancer supporter Justin Sucato died on my birthday. This week my younger brother had to have his leg amputated above the knee due to complications of diabetes. So once again, my heart is broken but not destroyed since I have some hope that he will improve his health. He is only 53 year old, and I just don't want to lose him yet. If all this couldn't inspire me nothing will. For the rest of my life, as long as my health makes it possible, I will walk and run for my little brother and for those who are now unable to do so for themselves.   I arrived very early, and parked by the tent where the award ceremony and band played. The registration started at 7:30 AM but was about half a mile away from the starting line. This was a pull tag race which meant that there was no chip timing. I gathered with all the other runners, waiting for the start of the race in a grassy area. While I waited, I stretched and did some light jogging down street to warm up. It was real cold before the race, and I knew that warming up would be very important. At 9:00 AM, the 5K and 15K started together at the intersection of Peavy and Van Dyke. I got into position on the first row and waited for the gun to go off. When it did, I took off fast but soon got a hitch in my gigalog for a few seconds. My hip started to lock up a little, then we came to a long downhill area.   I like running downhill; I seem to speed up more. I guess it's the momentum or gravity. I was enjoying the downhill run, but then started thinking about how difficult it would be to have to climb this same hill on my way back. I figured my final time would suffer a bit. I just kept running as fast as I could. I've run at Norbuk Park many times before but this race started different and had a different route to the finish line at the park. I wasn't sure of my time as I passed the 1 mile marker. At this point in the race, there was a trail on the left where the runners ahead of me were already heading back. I knew that the turnaround must be close. I just followed the crowd, looking for that 5K turnaround. I did not want to go straight, and end up in a 15K race... at least not yet anyway.   I made my way around the turnaround, then we went off on the grass a short distance, ending up on the trail below which lead back the way I started. I kept pushing myself as hard as I could and got to the 2 mile marker still feeling pretty strong in this cool weather. I really enjoy running in this kind of cool weather. In my experience so far, I have found that most runners run faster times in cool weather. At this point, I started thinking about the finish line and about my little brother. I wanted this to be my best race for him. As I got closer, I realized that I didn't have to go back up that long hill after all; the finish line street cut off before the hill and headed back to Norbuck. Boy was I glad. Most of the time I am out of energy toward the end of a race, but I told myself that I could do it, and didn't stop running hard until I crossed the finish line in my personal best 5K race time of 25:49:18. Before the race I said to myself that it would be great if I ran in under 26 minutes. I had picked the time of 25:53 as my goal because of the age of my 53 year old brother. I thank God for continuing to bless me in my running. My success wouldn't be possible without His guidance.   Looking at the post-race results, I discovered that I had finished ahead of the second place winner at last weeks race, the guy that I said always beat me. Another man, who I beat by 16 seconds at the Frisco Frosty 5K last week decided to enter in the clydesdale division ( for runners 200-214 lbs) instead of the 55-59 group. White Rock Racing awarded the 5 fastest runners in each age division an award. I went over to the award ceremony to take a few pictures, thinking I had finished 6th place in my division. When they called my name I was totally surprised and happy to receive that 5th place award as a tribute to my little brother.   I want to thank the Baylor Sports Care Team who came to my aid after the race. I was fine, but as I have said before it just takes a few minutes for me to get back to normal after a race. It was nice to know someone cared enough to see how I was doing. They sat me down by their caravan a few minutes and I said I was fine. Other sponsors at the race were Schepps Dairy who furnished all the egg nog, Run-On!, and Davis Creative.   Last week, I attended the annual Christmas dinner at Cancer Support Community of North Texas (formerly Gilda's Club). The Dinner was sponsored by Cancer Treatment Centers of America, who also donated $5,000 to the center. This center along with Fitsteps for Life and North Texas Prostate Coalition and all the area hospital prostate cancer support groups I attend are responsible for my running. At this holiday time if anyone has any extra money to give, these are great non profit groups to give to. I would like to start a race one day to help these organizations, but I need some sponsors and help getting it all started. I would still be on my couch feeling sorry for myself without them and their support.   You can view the final results here.   My line Male 55-59:   Place   Bib #   Men Overall   Overall      Time       Pace  5/8      1317       74/206       94/404   25:49:18   8:18/m     I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com