Run for a Purpose 5k

This week I ran in the Run for a Purpose 5k at Cedar Hill High School's Longhorn track in Cerdar Hill, TX on Saturday, March 26. The race benefited lung cancer research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Rexanna's Foundation T.E.A.M. Scholarships. Rexanna's Foundation is named after Rexanna Hawkins, an educator and coach, who died of lung cancer at age 49 in 2006, even though she was never a smoker. This particular race was held to honor David Milson who spent 23 years coaching at Cedar Hill High School. Just weeks after his retirement in April 2010 he was shocked when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. David, a non smoker, died on January 31, 2011 at the age of 53. This event included a 5K walk / run, kids fun run, and a health fair. There was also a special dedication ceremony to David after the race. Personally, I ran this race for my little brother Jimmy, who is currently in hospice care. He is 53 years old, and his birthday is next week on April 6. I am grateful for all that he has meant to me in my life. Now it seems that it's time to prepare myself to lose him.   I arrived early, went to registration desk to pick up my race package, and took a few pictures by the Run for a Purpose sign. I run every race with a purpose. I jogged a while around the high school parking lot and stretched. The start / finish line was on the track and the course then branched out to the streets around neighborhood. There was no turn around for this course; overall, it was great. After the fun run, the 5K started. It was about 70 degrees by the 9:00AM start. Just before the race started, my younger son Edward, who just got married last month, arrived with his wife. He took pictures before, during, and after the race.   I lined up on the first row and talked with a guy in my age group named Alan, who looked fast. I also got a high five from the Chick Fillet Cow, who started the race with us (but didn't do the whole 5K). Once the race started, there was a straight-line dash out of the high school track. My Run-On! coach, Dan, said I had some good training runs, and I really wanted to erase my record time at the Madi Gras Run because I think the course was a little short. With my family out to watch me run, I was motivated to beat that time. After sprinting as fast as I could out of the track I made my way to the street with a police escort. There were a lot of turns on the course, but they had volunteers there to guide everyone, and cheer everyone on. It felt great!   Soon after leaving the track, the man in my age group passed me up. I told myself to try to keep up with him if I could. I arrived at the 1st mile in 7:21, and made it to the 2nd mile in 15:16 (7:55 / m pace). I tried to increase my speed after about 2.5 miles. I arrived back on the track for a sprint to the finish line with all I had left to give. My Garmin timer had only 3.0 miles, not the 3.10 it takes for a 5K. I could be wrong, but again, I think this course was a little short. My final time was a new personal record at 23:33. I don't know if I'll be able to erase this short PR time off my record now.   I finished 30 overall, the highest finish ever with over 200 runners or more. This was the first race these organizers had run, and they did not post the results like all of the other races I have run in (over 60). After cooling down and checking out the health fair with my family, the award ceremony started. I thought I finished 2nd place, and so my son was ready to take a picture of me with my award. It turns out that unlike all the other races I've been to, they only gave awards to the first place in each age group with 2nd and 3rd place runners leaving empty handed. I was a little disappointed as I am sure other were. It's not that big of a deal, but I just like to put the award around my dog Rocky when I am lucky enough to win one. He wags his tail and smiles back with his big tall ears like "you did good grandpa, I'm proud of you!"   You can view the results here.   Place    Bib#     Men     Overall   Chip Time   Pace  2/6      1580    26/110   30/291     23:33      7:36/m I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com