Strongsville Super Saturday

Marsha and I ran this race this morning Saturday March 21. They have a 1 mile race and a 5k race and we ran both last year and won some really nice trophies so we decided to run both again this year. We arrived early and ran the 1 mile course for a warm up and then ran a fast 1 mile. I ran it in 5:47 last year and ran it in 5:33 this year and won my age group for the second time 2 years and was 6th overall out of 90 runners, Marsha ran 6:44 last year and knocked 16 seconds off her time with a 6:28 and won her age group also. Now this race is over and we have less than 20 minutes til the 5K begins so we hang around outside and talk to friends til we line up again. I lined up in the front to avoid the large crowd of 364 runners and went off faster than I should and hit the 1 mile mark at 5:55, too fast with the LARGE hill coming up in mile 2 but headed up that darn hill nice and steady with some company. I end up following the guy I beat last week by 2 seconds up the hill until he slows to a walk and I pass him, knowing that he would be coming I kept pushing and not long after there he is again. He (V.R.) passes me when we get to Rt. 82 and picks up the pace which I then have to to keep up with him, as we get down to the last 1/4 mile I pull up next to him and we both begin a sprint to the finish and again I just make it to the finish line 2 seconds in front of him with a 20:21. (19 seconds slower than last week but great for this hillier course and 2 minutes 6 seconds better than last year). I finished in 36th place overall and Marsha finished in 23:41 in 112th overall and beating last years time by 54 seconds. This is a very well run race and has the nicest wicking t-shirt of any 5K we have ever ran, some of the nicest trophies also.