Don't have the time, patience or ability to train (or spectate) for a 5k? Then the Raleigh Magnificent Mile might be the race for you! Today's race was also the RRCA North Carolina State Championship for the mile distance, so that extra prize money helped bring out a top-notch field for the race. As somebody mentioned last year, it is pretty humbling and exciting to be standing the starting chute while the elites just a few steps away are introduced to the crowd. (Of course, I wouldn't be that close to them for the rest of the race!)
I joked that you know you're a runner when you wear one of those fancy timing watches in a mile-long race -- so you can hit all your walk breaks, right? :-) But there was no kidding about the speed in today's race. The men's winner burned up the course around the Capitol and back and forth on Hillsborough Street in a fast 4 minutes and 13 seconds (a new course record), and the women's winner ran a 5:15. They treated a sizeable crowd of spectators to close, fast races and were rewarded with decent prize money.
For those of us who weren't competing for cash, it was still a lot of fun. I knocked about eight seconds off last year's time and finished with a decent 8:46. The race was again a great success, with more than 500 people taking part and more than $42,000 being raised for the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation.
I joked that you know you're a runner when you wear one of those fancy timing watches in a mile-long race -- so you can hit all your walk breaks, right? :-) But there was no kidding about the speed in today's race. The men's winner burned up the course around the Capitol and back and forth on Hillsborough Street in a fast 4 minutes and 13 seconds (a new course record), and the women's winner ran a 5:15. They treated a sizeable crowd of spectators to close, fast races and were rewarded with decent prize money.
For those of us who weren't competing for cash, it was still a lot of fun. I knocked about eight seconds off last year's time and finished with a decent 8:46. The race was again a great success, with more than 500 people taking part and more than $42,000 being raised for the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation.
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