I have been a member of Life Center plus for 6 months, and besides being a fantastic facility- the owners, Jerry & Sue Lynch, are very involved in the local community, and do many fund raisers. When I saw they were doing a charity 5k to fund an anti-obesity program at a local hospital- I knew I had to participate. The fact it’s close to home, and with race starting at 730am provided  a bonus!!

They had approx. 135 people there, and being a first year event- on the same weekend as Towpath Marathon, it was a solid turnout.

Weather was in the 40’s, with drizzle and a threat of rain. I got there early, did a solid warm up by running the course. This would prove to be a huge help, and with weather, most people elected to not warm up, or preview course. At the start, I lined up in front, and watched starter closely, as many people were talking and not paying attention- so when the starter yelled go, I jumped out to a 50 yard lead. At the ½ mile mark, a young runner passed me, and looked pretty strong.  There was a pretty good downhill, and I hung as close as I could.  As we made a few turns, I could see him hesitate slightly, not 100 % sure on where course was. I used these corners to close back in, and as we approached the ½ way point, He again hesitated a hair at turnaround point, I used this to get next to him, and we ran side by side for the next ¼ mile, till He again pulled ahead by a few yards. At one of road crossings, there was a water stop, and a very steep downhill right after. As we approached, He went to grab a water. I decided this was my chance, I shot passed him, flew down the hill- almost hitting the bikes who were leading us out, and went all out. I got a small gap, and as I turned corner for final uphill, I decided to go all out- thinking it might discourage him, being afraid if it came down to a final sprint at finish line, he would out sprint me.

The tactic worked, as I crested top of hill, had a clear lead, cruised to the finish in 19:50- a 6.20 per mile pace (course was long, about 3.2 miles) and my first overall win! It was a nice to win an overall, and celebrated by grabbing my bike and doing a ride home immediately after race

Thanks to Jerry & Sue for a great event!!

Ken Frankenbery