This weekend I ran in the National Race To End Women’s Cancer 5K, which I was offered an entry to in exchange for telling you about the great cause it supports. It was a beautiful November morning in Washington, D.C., and the fast, flat course helped me earn a PR, slicing 90 seconds off my last 5K time.
The race had a 9:00 am start time and easy logistics, so we left the house around 7:30. I was a bit concerned about parking, but we snagged a spot on the street about 1/2 block from the start! We arrived just in time for the pre-race program, where we heard from several survivors of gynecological cancers, and observed a moment of silence.
It was very moving to see “teams” running for specific women–their wives, mothers, sisters, friends–and inspiring to see the survivors out on the course. About 95,000 women are diagnosed with a “below the belt” cancer every year, and all funds raised through this event go towards the Foundation for Women’s Cancer’s mission to raise awareness about prevention, risks, symptoms and early detection, and to fund research into new diagnostic tools and better treatments to end women’s cancer. If you would like to support this cause, you can donate through their webpage here.
The race course was similar to but different from the Beat The Deadline 5K, which means we got to spend the first mile running towards the Capital.
The rest of the course isn’t very scenic, but that made it easy to focus on my pace and the road–D.C. is known for its pot holes and I didn’t want to fall victim! I knew I had a sub-8:00 pace in me, and I nailed it:
Mile 1: 7:49
Mile 2: 8:00 (I think the hairpin turns slowed me down)
Mile 3: 7:43
Finish Time: 24:47 (7:50 pace)
How flat is the course? The total elevation gain was 12 feet! Now, that’s flat!
As I was running, my piriformis made its presence known, so I will have to spend some time with a lacrosse ball and foam roller before the .US 12K next weekend.
[Tweet “Racing to #EndWomensCancer #runchat #fitfluential #sweatpink”]
Do you have any events left on your 2015 calendar?
Have you registered for anything in 2016 yet?
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Now that’s a cause I’d love to run for! Great time too!
great race and a great cause!
Wow you’ve gotten speedy! Congrats on the pr and for raising awareness for a great cause. I am doing a Vet day 10k on Wed so that is fun!
Thanks! It took all I had. I have to work on Veteran’s Day ….
Look at YOU speedy! great job on the 5k and running for such an awesome cause.
Thanks! It was a perfect day!
Congrats on your PR!! And this is such a great cause. Hope your piriformis starts to behave itself soon!
Nice job Coco! I’ll be volunteering at the 12K next weekend – handing out medals. I’ll look out for you.
Oh, I would love to get my medal from you!!
Ohhh, nice job!! I need to start running a few of these and see what I can do in a 5K. I haven’t run one in almost 2 years!
Nice PR! Congrats! What a great cause to run for!
Great run, hope your lacrosse ball and you had a nice date.
What a great race + cause! <3 Congrats on your PR! 😀
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