Time for a long overdue race recap. This June I headed home to Syracuse for my bridal shower weekend. The weekend happened to coincide with the first road race I ever ran, so I couldn’t resist signing up.

Ian & Me being goofy on the way to the race!

It was as fun as I remember it being the first time around. It reminded me of a cross-country race. We lined up across the parking lot behind a giant chalk line for the start, which turned into a free for all to a narrower paved path leading to the road that most of the race took place on. I went out hard on the first mile and tried to take advantage of a slight downhill on the way out.

The roads were still open to cars, albeit very slow ones, so we had to stay on our toes. I slowed a bit for mile two but still felt pretty strong. The slight uphill on the way back wasn’t too painful and I was able to pick off a few runners. A short downhill gave me a nice boost before the final surge to the finish.

I crossed the line in 23:53. A pretty solid effort and one of my better races in awhile. It wasn’t a PR, but it was a whole lot better than the time my 17-year-old self ran back in the day prompting my #FasterAt30 hashtag for the day!

The tee shirts weren’t great, but nothing you can complain about for a race that inexpensive. It was well organized and I was a big fan of the little chocolate milk at the finish!