I guess I have to write about my “Ghost and Goblins 5K” experience before I forget all the details. I would have written sooner but it’s been a busy week. I took a day and a half off work to spend some time with my niece. Believe me, she demands a lot of attention.

Anyway, the 5K was on October 28th at night and of course it was Halloween themed. Two of the people I went with were dressed up, one supergirl and one Hershey kiss. I just wore black tights with a bright orange pumpkin shirt with a long sleeved tech shirt underneath and gloves. It was one of the coldest nights around 30 degrees. Believe it or not, it was a great night for running. The only time I got cold was waiting for the race to start and coming across the last bridge over the Great Miami River.

If you all know anything about me you know, I didn’t really train for this. I’m the ultimate procrastinator. So, I was going to do a run/walk combination and was hoping to finish in 50:00 some things, around a 17:00 mile. This was a charity run/walk benefiting Dayton’s Children’s Hospital. Looking at last year’s results I knew that there were lots of walkers so no chance of me embarrassing myself.

The start was a bit disorganized. They did have signs posted by pace for people to start but there were even people with strollers in the front. No one was paying any attention. If I was a serious runner I’d be pissed. You have to go into this race for fun only.

It was a chip race so my time didn’t start until I crossed the start mat. Unfortunately, I didn’t wear my watch so I didn’t know how long it took to get to the mat. The first mile, I ran about half of it and the time display said 17:36 so I knew I was probably under my 17 minute mile goal. The first mile was paved roads. They had Halloween displays along the route like graveyards. Mile 2 was a combination of pavement and gravel path. I mainly walked and focused on walking as fast as I could. It worked…..I hit the mile 2 display at 32:50. On mile 3, a chicken passed me. At least a person dressed as a chicken. I couldn’t let that chicken beat me. So, I would run ahead of the chicken walk until the chicken caught up to me then run again. The chicken was even able to pass me while walking. What can I say? The chicken had longer legs than me. I spent the last ½ mile running to keep in front of that chicken. I did it! I finished in 48:06 about a 15:31 mile. Thanks to the chicken and the cold I ran faster than I usually do.

It felt so good to run…..I wish could keep that feeling with me at all times.