I had never run a 5-miler race before, so this was going to be an automatic PR. I went into the race with no real goals other than beating my 5 mile training times.

The day of the race was unseasonably warm -- In fact, it was HOT and HUMID. The course could be described as rural rolling hills, but combined with the heat and humidity, some of those hills felt like little mountains. The course is point-to-point, and there is a school bus that shuttles you back to the start. There were some that chose to run the 5 miles back (obviously locals), but my group and I opted to sit back and let our driver take us back to our car.

After the race, there is a small awards ceremony and runners are allowed to change and shower in the locker room of the local community pool that sits adjacent to the race staging area.

All-in-all, there was nothing unique about the race, given the fact that I've run many other rural courses, but the director and volunteers were extremely nice and accommodating.

I don't think I'll put this race of my calendar in the future, but that's not a negative strike against the race or the community. We marked this county off of our list, so it's on to the next...