Have you ever run in a sauna?

Yesterday it was off to Canton, Massachusetts for the Irish Cultural Centre 5K. The race was the September Grand Prix Race for the Thirsty Irish Runners (talk about a match made in heaven) and a great group of runners toed the starting line on the grounds of the Irish Cultural Centre. Before heading out onto the course, beautiful renditions of the Irish and American national anthems were sung and a moment of silence in memory of September 11th was held.

Yesterday was humid, brutally humid. The race kicked off at 11:30 AM and it was noticeable that the humidity was going to play a factor immediately when just walking from the parking lot to the grounds of the Irish Cultural Centre. Out on the course, the humidity was soupy and the storms that would roll through just after the race concluded could almost be felt with each step made during the run.

The course for this race is relatively flat as other than the short stretch on the scenic grounds of the Irish Cultural Centre you are running through an industrial park. There were a couple water stops around the halfway point of the run which certainly came in handy given the warm and humid conditions. Unfortunately, water was relatively non-existent at the finish line and for future years having some cases of water at the finish line would be a nice addition. Volunteers were working hard to fill one container of water but it simply wasn’t enough.

I felt pretty good out on the course and had a strong finishing time of 25:47, good for 8:20/miles. Some decent running lately and feeling good!