The results surprised me to say the least. I did the distance in 28:14, a PR by 19 seconds with plenty left in the tank, but that wasn't even the best part.

We have a lot of quality high school running programs in the area. With several big private school teams and the public school teams that want to show them up, the competition can be fierce. Unfortunately, so can some of the coaches.

While on course I caught up to a young girl, high school aged, and figured out really quickly what her name was and where she went to school because her looney toons coach was yelling at her. I am not an experienced runner by any stretch, but I can't imagine the path to great results is paved with screams and comments about disappointing times.

As I caught up to her we were around 1K to go and she was gassing bad. I slowed down and just kept talking to her, pointed out where the turn to the finish line was, and urged her on. When we hit the final turn I just said,"Now stretch out your stride and go get it. Kick! Kick! Kick!" She took off at a pace I couldn't keep up with, she seriously pulled about 10 strides on me in the last 100 meters.

She was ready to cry when she was done. It was her first 5K of any kind and she was so relieved. It felt great to help her and see what happens when you get her back out of her own head and some alive for that last push.

BTW, I hope her coach chokes on his whistle. What an a-hole. Every kid I saw wearing that same uniform looked more like they just went 10 rounds with Tyson than ran a simple 5K.

-Tim

I have a stretch of a week or so that I know my schedule will give me the time to train to my peak for my next 5K. It is the Flying Pig in Pennington, NJ on August 13th. It will be my first cross country race, so I am not expecting a PR for the distance.

The great things that I am looking forward to is the opportunity to run with a few kids that grew up in the youth program I help with and the race is in a park that I ran all over as a kid. The comforts of good friends and a familiar place should make for a great evening of running, no matter what the August weather has in store for us.

I am getting psyched up already. 16 days and counting.

I work for a home improvement company and I will work my connections to see if I can even arrange to supply trash bags for the project.

The Plan:

Tentative Date: May 16, 2009 (the weekend before Memorial Day)

The Location: EVERYWHERE!!!

The Concept: Go for a long walk with fellow runners and friends along your favorite running routes and help beautify it. Cleaning up sidewalks, clogged storm drains, and picking up trash will help to make our home towns and trails even more enjoyable as we enter the summer.

I will work my contacts through work for supplies and support as well as getting in touch with companies that support our sport. If anyone has any suggestions, advice, or would like to help plan, please get in touch with me.

I got off to a rough start, still not used to the whole running in a crowd thing. Stumbled a few times while weaving in and out of the slower people that started in front of me. Once I found some open ground I really got into a good groove.

I ended up starting my kick late because I didn't rememebr to look at landmarks on the first half of the out and back course. I ended up not going until I could see the cones, maybe 300 or so meters out.

I ended up crossing the line at 28:30. Knocking another almost 2 minutes off of my previous PR from mothers day.

I can't wait until the next one. I think my training is right pace to achieve my marathon goal at Disney in January.

I think I have a simple, yet effective solution that can work for everyone everywhere and I would like to hear some opinions.

My idea is to pick a date that runners coast to coast and beyond can share to clean up each of our little corners of the world a bit. The process would be to put on a pair of gloves and bring a trash bag or two with you as you head out on a common or favorite personal running route through town or around campus if you are a student that traisn on the track normally. Instead of running, we all just walk and pick up the little bits of trash that we all see and normally run past daily.

I don't think it would be a big deal for most of us to take up a rest or active rest day by helping the enviroment. It is a simple activity that all ages and levels of runners can participate in equally, to help build some more community among us.

The impact can be as big or little as the local runners care to make it.

What I would like to know:

Will college/high school/ junior high/ running clubs be interested?

Does anyone see any problem with the basic idea?

What time of year would be best for a clean up day? Should it be one date coast to coast that we cna all share and brag about? Or would having multiple dates throughout the year or region by region be a better fit?

Does anyone think this is the kind of idea that can grow and maybe become an annual event for the running community?

Thanks in advance for your time and opinions. I am hoping that with a simple, grass roots approach, we can all have a hand in helping our towns, our enviroment, and inspiring the next generation to be responsible for the planet we all share.

-Tim