This morning was the Frances Morast 5K to Beat Ovarian Cancer in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, which just so happens to be where I live. The course is a nice and fast 5K course that takes runners through a scenic loop including the historic Central Square section of town. Having done this race in the past and having run these roads for the past several years, this race serves as a great run to push myself and see how I can fare against the competition.

Race time weather was ideal for running with the sun shining and the fall air settling into New England after a couple of hot and humid days this week. As we made our way out onto the course I felt really good and for the first half-mile found myself to be in first place. I checked my Garmin and saw I was running a nice pace but knew it was one I could not maintain for the rest of the race. Two runners passed me and I gladly let them glide along and fell into a comfortable stride I felt I could maintain for the rest of the race. After a brief neck and neck run with another runner about a mile and a half in, I kicked it up a notch and began to pull away. Coming back into the Central Square section of Bridgewater I knew third place was mine for the taking and continued to push it toward the finish line. After a brief encounter that almost landed me as a stylish hood ornament on Maple Avenue I continued a good coast into the finish line and finished the race in third place overall with a time of 22:13, good for 7:10/miles. This was pretty much the best 5k race I have had all season and I am quite pleased with the outcome.

The race is organized by the Morast family who lost Frances Morast, an educator in Bridgewater, to ovarian cancer. This annual race has raised over $100,000 for ovarian cancer research and for scholarships awarded in Fran’s honor.

Be sure to “Like” the Facebook page for the race by clicking here and join me at the Frances Morast 5K next year!