Pat and Eileen from our pastor's bible study
Barefoot Rick's Run for the Summit 5K Report - May 5, 2007
Hometown races are always fun! I'm not talking about Kansas City Missouri, although I do live in the suburban area. I'm speaking of Lee's Summit, one of the fastest growing burbs in the KC area, known for it's great schools and wonderful people. Many of these wonderful folks go to my church, the United Methodist Church of Lee's Summit who were the organizers of today's race. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to needy families at Lee's Summit Elementary School to provide financial assistance as needed. So, it was a pleasure to be able to participate in the 4th year of the Run for the Summit 5K.
Pat and Eileen from our pastor's bible study
Don, musician and composer extraordinaire, and Nellie
(Nelly is the one barefoot!)
It was good to chat and meander about before the race, visiting with many folks that I know from church and the community. It felt like a mini-family reunion as I saw many that I consider to be a second family from various areas of Lee's Summit.
Pastor Jim and BR
BR and Mike from church
This is not an easy 5K course. It is hilly and barefoot-unfriendly on some of the side streets. However, with a few hundred runners and walkers, we were all out just to have a good time and to support a good cause. I saw several familiar volunteers along the course including Kirk (one of our Methodist Men of Note music ensemble) who was a traffic coordinator. Great to high-five him on the way back in!
I was hoping to run sub-21 minutes but as I said, this is tough course. I actually finished a few seconds slower than I did when I ran this race in 2004 (but, hey, I'm 3 years older ... yeah, that's my excuse [wink!]). Anyway, I crossed the finish line at 22:05 which was good enough for 1st place in the 50-59 age group. (Fortunately, there were several other races happening today in the greater KC area, so the "big guns" stayed away and allowed some of us slower guys to win for a change. Hah!
Awarded 1st Place (50-59 AG) by Race Director Rachel
Overall, it was a wonderful morning of chatting and sharing. And, most importantly, a lot of kids will have some financial resources that may not have been possible without the funds raised at the Run for the Summit 5K.
Factoids:
Finish Time - 22:05
Pace - 7:07
1st Place - 50-59 Age Group