I know this is a little late, but the saying goes better late then never! I have two races I want to write about today. The first was a 10k in Kyle, TX on March 12th. It was a very small race with about 100 people participating in the event. After about a half mile in to the race I was all alone. It was a little windy and some nice rolling hills along the course. I won with a time of 33:00. I was pretty happy with that.
The second race was in Fort Smith, AR on March 19th. It was a half-marathon. The night before the race I called up my nephew Jonathon to see if he wanted to run the 5k. He was down! So, my mom, Jonathon and I all headed up to the race Saturday morning. The temperature was great, but the wind made it a little chilly! The half started 5 minutes before the 5k. The plan was to just run it at marathon pace, which is 5:40 per mile. I just wanted to use it as a workout, because I was in the middle of a pretty big mileage week. The gun goes off and I am out to the lead with two other guys about a step or two behind me. The first turn was about 100 to 150 meters into the race. There was a man on a bike at the middle of this intersection. You could only turn right or left, so when I reached him I yelled "which way?". He didn't respond so I just turned left. I have run a few other races at this area and they have always went left. The man on the bike turned and went in front of us. This made me think that I was going the right way. I also started noticing blue arrows on the road showing me where to go. I started to worry a bit when there were no mile markers, but when I looked behind me I saw a long line of runners. I had about a 200 meter lead when I saw my first mile marker. It said 4! I was thinking they only have mile markers every 4 miles? The next marker I saw said 12. That's right I was only a mile from the finish, but I shouldn't be! When I hit mile 13 I was able to get my first mile split, which was a 5:35. I had only run about 42 minutes so far; so I just ran past the finish line. I decided I would just keep that pace for 1:14. When I finished my run I made it back to the finish line and had my chip cut off. Apparently, we were suppose to turn right at that first turn where we went left. I was bummed, but not mad. Some of the runners were pretty ticked off! There were a couple of dudes that just needed to settle down. I really felt bad for the race director, because it wasn't her fault. Anyway, it got me thinking that this race could totally be a sermon. To many times we go left instead of going right. To the right were mile markers, signs, people blocking roads, aid stations with food and drinks. To the right God has all these wonderful things for us, but it is so easy for us to follow the crowd and turn left. When I made that turn everyone followed me. I want to make sure that I am making the right turns in my life and not following the crowd, but following God's path for me!
See you on the roads,
Matt
PS - Jonathon got 3rd overall in the 5k!
