The race started at 8:00 am sharp. I was up a few hours before that to eat some fruit and hydrate, as I do for every race. It was a 22-minute drive to the starting line, and we had yet to pick up our race packets.

Reflective puddles pooled in the weathered gaps of the concrete below my bedroom window indicating that it must have just rained, and there was a 40% chance of rain forecasted during the race. In a state of already heightened anxiety, all these variables add to mounting stress and anticipation.

When you have trained hard towards a tough goal, you’ve poured your heart out and it all culminates here. Race day. This can be a time filled with anxiety and trepidation. Races can be a very intimidating undertaking.

Running is hard under perfect conditions, and races introduce a host of other stressors - social pressure or fear of embarrassment, strict timing, and specified conditions of failure (we'll go into more detail on this here in a bit) to name a few. For example, everyone that races eventually finds themselves in a bathroom-timing dilemma (you know what I mean). It's easy to understand why most people never even sign up for a race.

It started raining right as we arrived at the race. My fiancé had signed up for it with me, and she had trained for this 5k and wanted to get her new PR. The rain meant no electronics, meaning no music, which was already a wrench in plans because she had only trained with music.

We were damp by the time we got our packets and hurried back to the vehicle to pin on our race bibs. I looked at the clock - 7:43 AM - just enough time for a warm-up jog before we made our way to the start.

I mentioned specified conditions of failure earlier - what do I mean by it? There’s an acronym for SMART goal-setting:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

Let’s set Achievable and Relevant aside for now, as they are subjective metrics that require honesty with yourself. I want to focus on Specific, Measurable, and Time-bound, as they are not subjective.

They lay out the exact conditions for success.

Do exactly “X”, measured by “Y”, within the timeframe “Z” and you will have successfully accomplished your goal. On the flip side, come up short in any of those three variables and you will have failed to accomplish your goal.

Races encompass all three of these by nature. There's a start line and a finish line, and there's a start time and a cut-off time.

So, specified conditions of success inherently determine specified conditions of failure, and most people don’t like specified conditions of failure.

The start and finish for the race were in the same spot, the course being a perfect loop, which isn’t always the case. We eased our way up, wading through the crowd. The front was already crammed with the young kids that don’t know any better, the lanky cross-country types in their tank-tops, and the few other serious adult runners who were warming up and stretching with intent, wearing shirts earned from other races.

This run was supporting Rector Highschool in Rector, AR, so there was a good showing of cross-country types, possibly the whole school team. My fiancé peeled off and found a place in the middle of the pack as I nudged my way towards the front.

I turned to a race volunteer standing off to the side of the starting line and asked, “Hey, do you know if the course is clearly marked?” I hadn’t seen any kind of map and didn’t know where I was going, and the courses in these smaller towns are not always obvious. He replied, “Well, I doubt it. How fast are you planning on running this thing?”, as he looked me up and down.

I don’t look like a very fast runner. I’m of a larger build, currently at 6’2”, 225lbs.

With a slight grin I said, “I’m hoping to run it pretty fast.” He gestured over to the cross-country bunch at the front and yelled, “Hey Coop!” He caught the attention of a 17-ish year old in the center of the cross-country huddle who looked over the heads of the other runners. “If this guy passes you (he pointed at me), you better tell him when he’s supposed to turn!”

Coop looked at me with suspicion. Then the volunteer turned back to me and said, “He’s gonna run it pretty fast, just stick with him.”

7:58 AM. The crowd packed a little tighter towards the front.

Most people set off on casual runs with the abstract goal of “getting some exercise”, and that’s great! I believe, however, that if those same people just made a little more time to run each week, they would see the kind of progress that has gotten me so hooked on the sport.

About 50 million Americans (or 15 percent of the U.S. population) participate in some form of running or jogging, according to a 2020 report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

But, according to an article on livestrong.com, only about 328,200 Americans (or 0.1% of the U.S. population) actually race.

That is a shockingly low number of racers. Considering that the majority of races are about having fun AND contributing to good causes, why wouldn’t more people do it? Do races need to be shorter? Is it just a lack of interest? Or is it fear?

You would probably be surprised to learn that the average 5k times nationwide are 34 minutes for men and 40 minutes for women. (see this running statistics article from livestrong.com)

That’s much more achievable than most people would think. So you just might surprise yourself with how you fare in comparison to the average runner.

I prepared my watch to start the run, giving GPS the few minutes it needs to lock in, and then waited for the sound of the horn. The air-horn blew and everyone around me took off sprinting. This is typical in these races. Immediately, there were 35 or more people ahead of me. It’s easy to get swept away by the energy and the pace, but I clung tight to the pace that I knew was a good starting pace for me.

For the first half-mile, nothing changed. There were still a ton of people ahead of me. I knew that the majority of them couldn’t possibly keep the pace, but still I wondered if maybe I just wasn’t in competitive shape. DOUBT. Afterall, I had been doing more distance training lately, was nearly a whopping 20lbs heavier than my last competitive race, and was much less focused on speed than years before. Doubt always creeps in. I shook off the thoughts and stuck to my pace.

I’m inclined to believe that it’s mostly fear that keeps “already runners” from racing, but I could be wrong about that There must be a lack of interest, too.

To me, it’s so worth it. It is such a fun and energetic environment. It presents a challenge that must be overcome and you experience the immediate gratification when you’ve done it.

Races are also a great way to meet people. People are generally happy and healthy. Making friends after races is a distinct pleasure: everyone is full of endorphins and now you all have something in common. Not to mention, it’s likely good company to keep. Rising tides raise all ships.

Then I noticed I was gaining on people. I hadn’t sped up. Instead, the herd had slowed. Just like I hoped. One after another, reeled in and passed. This continued for another mile or so.

One guy who had said, “good luck” as he passed me in the first 200m just fell out of sight as I passed him on his left.

Then we got to the first substantial climb in the course. My pace was relatively conservative, and I had no intention of slowing for a hill. Three of the cross-country kids in front of me slowed as they began to climb, and I passed all three on their left and eased my way back over to the inside in front of them.

As I got to the top of the hill, I could see that there were only two runners ahead of me now: “Coop” was leading, and one other dude from the cross-country bunch was between me and him. There was a little less than a mile left, and they were ahead of me by about 100 meters.

The last thing I’ll say is this, and I’ll leave you with the remaining race narrative: Give it a try.

If you have the vaguest of interests in jogging, sign up for a race. Set a SMART goal and train for it. I promise you will find the experience extremely rewarding.

Ease into training and listen to your body. Eat good and hydrate well. If you fail, then at least you get to know yourself better, lessen the fears around experiencing failure, make a donation to a good cause, and end up with a not-so-cool t-shirt memento.

Harmless.

I laid on the accelerator, but I was beginning to tire. My legs hurt and my breathing was increasingly labored. As I gained ground on the runner before me, I could see that “Coop” was extending his lead on us both.

I could tell from the stride of the runner in front of me that he was tiring. At this stage, it was a matter of will. I stayed on the accelerator breathing very heavily, legs burning, as I passed him on the left.

I took a brief moment to look back as I passed and noticed the look in his eyes as this 225lb guy came barreling past him this late in the race. He was at the very extent of his conditioning and will. I wouldn’t slow down.

He would be passed and knocked out of second place in the race. This kind of thing can crush a man’s spirit. I knew I had him beat. I didn’t slow. I had to catch “Coop” and there wasn’t much race left.

We crashed down a hill into town, which I recognized was adjacent to the race start/finish. I watched "Coop" make what must have been the final turn, a right turn at the bottom of the hill to head uphill to the finish. He still had a lead of about 100 meters.

I pushed with everything I had into that last turn. The last climb to the finish was another 300 meters. In front of me, "Coop" was looking over his shoulder to verify and maintain his lead.

I ran hard with everything I had, closing the gap little by little. I was able to get within about 50 meters of him before he crossed the finish line. Too little too late. I gave it everything for that last sprint and finished just over 19 minutes.

I shook his hand and told him good race. I could tell that he had more in the tank. Even if I had run into him harder, he likely had what he needed to maintain his lead.

19 minutes is hardly a world-class time and not even a PR, but I was proud with my effort. I then took to the finish line to cheer on and congratulate the other runners as they finished. Especially the guy who I knocked out of second place.

Then I walked back down to the final turn to find my fiancé and finish the last stretch of her race with her. When she made the turn, she was ahead of her goal and knew she would finish out with a PR. They had an awards ceremony in the school gymnasium where I received 2nd overall, and she received 2nd place in her age-group!

We headed home with two race medals and two more race bibs for the collection. We stopped to pick wildflowers on the side of the road where I slipped on wet ground and slid down in a steep ditch masked by 5-foot Johnson grass. Damn near tore my MCL. When we got home we ate blueberry overnight-protein-oats I had prepared the night before. I went to the gym, of course, because it was still chest day and there’s no off-days here, sir.