East Berlin Area Community Center 5K Race Recap/Review

This past Saturday, July 21, I participated in my first ever competitive walking event.  It was held in a little town about 1.25 hours west of whee I live, but it was definitely worth the drive!  The race was a 5K running race with a simultaneous 5K competitive walking race.

The race began at the East Berlin Area Community Center at 8 a.m.  We arrived about 7:30 and had no trouble parking at all.  There were plenty of signs directing us to the community center and both people and signs directing everyone where to park.

The packet pickup, registration and raffle tables were all located inside the community center, and were all very well organized.

The start of the race was actually a little bit of  a walk from the community center - about 1/10th of a mile down to a nearby park.

As with most races, being a former slow runner, and now a walker, I have always lined up at the back of the pack.  It's nearly always difficult to hear the race director giving the final announcements and the command to start.  This race was no exception.  I couldn't understand anything she was saying, but all of a sudden, I heard a gunshot.  I must've jumped a mile. The shot was fired by an older gentleman who was precariously situated on the top of an old camper-bed pick-up truck. At first I had no idea what was going on, but quickly realized the gunshot was to signify the start of the race.

I gathered my wits and crossed made it across the start line at the back of the pack, noting, in particular, one woman who was obviously in the walking division as well.   She was a few yards ahead of me and was obviously as serious about walking this race as I was.  I was using a 5 minute walk/ 30 second shuffle (slow, relaxed walk) ratio.  I inched and inched my way towards her, and finally was able to pass her just before the 1 mile mark.

The turns on the course were marked very well, with most of them having volunteers directing the racers to make sure they knew where to go.  There were also police/fire police at the places where we had to cross a road that was not closed to traffic.  The water stop was located at approximately the 1.5 mile mark.  I opted to skip the water.  I didn't want to slow down, and besides, it wasn't a hot morning.

I crossed the finish line at 43:53 -- with an average pace of 14:15.  I was elated.  Everyone was handed a wet sport towel to cool off with when we crossed the finish line. I was in second place overall in the walking division.  :)

The post race food was incredible.  There was fruit, cookies, coffee, smoothies, water, etc.  Again - just an incredible race overall.  Very well organized with friendly volunteers.  I will definitely do this race again next year!