Penn Medicine at Radnor Run 5 Miler
October 26, 2008 by Doug
It happens over and over again. No matter how hard I try, life gets in the way (grins). Here in Philly, our beloved Phillies are making a World Series run. If you are a baseball fan you know how rare this is, the Phils being the losingest franchise in sports history. I was partying w/ friends at a World Series function last night. Long story short, I wasn’t consuming salad and beet juice.
I tried to get to bed as early as I could but an exciting day of sports had my adrenaline going (Shout out to my undefeated Nittany Lions, as well as the Phils and Flyers). Fast forward to this morning. I was up at 5:30 with limited functionality. Seems like this was easier in college 
This is my first 5 miler and I didn’t expect much as far as my performance. Fran wanted to do this race for awhile, in memory of her father who lost his battle with COPD last year. Her Mom and cousins John and Jody did the mile walk in support of him as well.
This is a hugely popular event in it’s 31st year. A five mile course through the beautiful neighborhoods of Radnor Township on the affluent Main Line. There were over 450 runners participating today and quite a few walkers as well.
In the beginning, which is common among the larger races, there was a glut of runners at the start. Obviously not everyone crosses the start at the same time, which compromises the accuracy of the results unless the race implements computer chips for the runners. I started around the middle of the pack where everyone was stepping around each other at the start.
I’m developing my own routine for these races and doing a better job of getting my pace down. I was a bit uneasy about running two more miles than I was used to today. I didn’t want to burn out early or cross the finish on a stretcher. It turns out though that in my mind I took the length of the race into account and did ok.
The scenery was beautiful and I was able to keep my mind
in the race. At the 3 mile marker I bore down and was doing a good job at keeping my speed consistent. The course had quite a few hills and turns but was not nearly as intense as last week’s run. The hills were not as long. Overall, it was a good, challenging course, a good test for my first attempt at 5 miles.
At mile marker four, I got my second wind. I overheard one of the runners mention that the hill we were going up was the last one. The rest of the race was downhill. Now I didn’t know if this was true or not, but it was enough for me to kick it up a notch. It turns out that it wasn’t too bad and I passed a number of people down the stretch. The sound of the crowd at the finish helped push me to finish strong.
I’m getting better at this, I can feel it. If I have enough energy to push like I did at the end, on my first 5 miler no less … I can probably increase my pace. I’m looking forward to better things from myself.
How was my time? I finished at 48:38. 42nd out of 47 in my age group. 251st out of 292 males. But this is the best that I felt after a race yet. I’m actually starting to enjoy this 
This post is dedicated to Robert P. Stedeford Sr. This race was for you Dad. You are very missed.
Map, logo and results provided by the 31st annual Radnor Run. Click HERE for link.
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