The Regis University 5k started at 10am, so why did I leave my house at 9:44am? Obligations and life would be the answer, sometimes they get in the way of running. Fortunately Regis University is close to my house, but I also realized on the drive that I didn’t exactly know where the race started.

I saw a few police officers and some pylon cones so I figured I had to be close and parked my car out on the street. I jumped out of my car at 9:57am and ran to the registration table – of course they did not have my information. The kid quickly gave me a bib and asked for my name and age, I grabbed the bib and a few safety pins and ran over to the start line. It was now 9:59am and Ed Green from the local CBS affiliate was giving out final instructions. I was hoping that I had enough time to put my bib on; otherwise I figured that I would just run with it in my hand. As Ed told the runners to take their mark, I was fastening the last pin.

At the start of the race, I noticed that I was immediately in the lead after the first 100 meters. This never happens; it may have been the adrenaline shooting through my body or the Red Bull coursing through my veins. At the ½ mile mark, I had two other runners both following a foot step behind.

The first mile of the course was mostly downhill on a rather tough 5k course. With ¾ of a mile to go, I still had one other runner on my shoulder, I did a quick glance with the eyes to check out my competition. I never looked at him, instead I looked down at his shoes, was he wearing racing flats or regular trainers? He was wearing regular trainers and my anxiety decreased.

The second mile was a loop around Berkeley Lake, I run around this lake on a regular basis, this is my ‘hood, I had to take home the victory. At the first water station my competition slowed down for some water, I quickly upped the pace and he fell back a few seconds. However, I then heard him sprinting to catch back up with me, but that was the final nail in the coffin because he quickly started to drop back after the sprint.

My first mile was in 5:41 and I ran the second mile in 5:44, which was probably my “fastest” mile as that was the only flat mile on the course. The final mile was a climb back up to Regis University, including one rather steep hill. At this point in the race, I didn’t feel that great, literally trying to race a 5k without warming up was proving to be a tough thing to do. I knew I had the race wrapped up, so I backed off the pace a touch and cruised in for the victory with a time of 18:23.

After the race, I ran the course again for a cool down and then came back for a BBQ on the Regis University lawn. This was actually one of the better 5ks that I have done in Denver. Sure, I might be biased since I took the victory and I live close by, but about 60% of the race was run on residential streets and the lap around Berkeley Lake was a nice touch. The race was on its 7th year, had about 300 runners and I’m actually a bit baffled that they don’t have a bigger turnout. My guess is that the $35 entry fee is the main reason.

It was one of my slowest 5k times of the year, but it’s always fun to win a race. I’m also glad that Justin didn’t take the comp. entry that I offered him. He stole my thunder once this year already and my psyche needed a moral and literal victory.