And I Ran... I Ran So Far Away...

Ok... so I didn't run... but I walked my first 5k. The 5k Walk/Run was a Glen Helen, and it was actually a lot of fun. I went up with my good friends Kelly and Meghan, and ran into my friend Jon from high school (who I need to hang out with soon) while up there. There appeared to be a ton of people, which was great, because the event was a fundraiser for Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs, OH (Glen Helen Website). We all started walking at the beginning of the event, but then Kelly decided to do a little running, so Meghan and I hung out and took it easy through the mud and muck that was the race trail. Though I've been to Glen Helen hundreds of times probably, the entire course was in a part that I didn't know about (or at least had never hiked in before). It was really pretty, and I was lucky that I brought my camera to snap a few photos. At the end of the event, we got to hang out and eat some chili (though I skipped that part after my chili experience last week at Relay for Life), and hung around to see people get their medals for the race winners. Since it was supposed to rain today (and looked like it was about to start up once the race ended) I think a lot of people left before the raffle items got passed out. They ended up finally giving all of those out, and we headed back into town to get some delicious pizza at Benitos. Overall, I think it was a great first 5k experience. My friend Kelly and I are also thinking about doing the Dayton Peace Accords 5k next Saturday, since it should be a flatter course, just to see how it goes. If we do that one, I think I might try to see if I can actually run part of it. Though I don't really find running to be fun, I think I could start making this a new thing to keep me active. I think the whole environment of these types of events makes the whole experience a lot better than just hanging out in a gym running on a treadmill like I had done before. We'll see if I decide to do the race next week, I might like to add running to my exercise repertoire... with the intentions of winning an Iron Man being my main goal of course.