Last Sunday, I ran in the Run to Overcome, a local race run to benefit people with mental health needs, providing scholarships through Project 4:7 a new local nonprofit. This was the 6th annual race according to the website but the first time I had run it. It was very advantageous for me, the race started only a mile from our house (at Lincoln Southwest High School) so I was able to run a slow warmup mile on the way to the race. I arrived earlier in the day to pickup my race packet (forgot to pick it up the day before the race). I was immediately impressed with the branding of this race with a cool runner logo and the theme Run to Overcome (shortened to R2O) and found it on signs, banners, the race shirt, and even the water bottles we received after the race. And there were some folks doing pre-race group exercise including aerobic exercise and group pushups. Well-organized race, allowing us plenty of room to warm up and stretch on the Lincoln Southwest High School track area (I've trained there with my Galloway run-walk group so am familiar with the track). The race began on the high school track, allowing us to run about half the oval before departing on the road race course. The race course runs south on 14th Street from Pine Lake to Yankee Hill before a turnaround oval. Then heading back north it was fun to see all the other runners and walkers still participating. I had one goal in this race: to break my 5k PR. I was surprised to see myself in the lead pack at the beginning but I run faster on a track. For most of the race, I was just behind the lead pack, trying to keep them in sight. Fortunately, I was able to pass some runners, including a speedy 18 year-old who finished first for the women. The lead pack was going at a good clip. We had excellent police protection on 14th Street keeping cars away from us and the street lanes were blocked off so we could actually run in the street on 14th Street instead of the sidewalk. Heading back north I had maneuvered into 4th place overall. I could still see the leaders but they had stretched their lead a little bit. It looked like I might be able to hold off any late passers. But two more runners slipped by me that I could not catch. When we returned to the track, it was fun to run about half the oval the opposite direction as before (counterclockwise instead of clockwise). By the time I reached the track again, I knew I needed to accelerate to ensure the 5k PR. And when I reached the finish line, I knew the PR had happened. But then I looked at my Garmin watch. 3.06 miles. I must have run the tangents well. So I kept running until the watch said 3.11 miles to make it official. The chip time was 21:06 (but that was for 3.06 according to my watch). When I reached 3.11 on the watch, it was 21:35 so that is the PR record I will accept. Broke a PR from last fall by about 20-30 seconds. After the race, there was plenty of water, chocolate milk, bananas, donut holes, and other snacks for us. They had a nice ceremony for the top 3 in the men's and women's race. The 3rd place finisher passed me very late in the race so that was interesting to see his strong kick. Lots of kids and families ran the 1 mile instead (held about an hour before our race). And they had a nice sign where we could write down our WHY: why we run so I wrote my answer on there. Very well run race, would highly recommend it. It was for a good cause and it's a fast 5k course, very flat and the 400m track portion goes quickly as the track is a soft, fast and well-maintained track. Will write up the race soon on my RunningGrooveShark.com blog so watch for that. Highly recommend this race. Fun for the whole family! Lots of kids out watching their parents run/walk. And they waited for all the walkers to return before giving out the awards and I was impressed with that. Everyone was cheered by the organizers and volunteers. Strong support for a 5k race.