Phillies 5K

Today is the inaugural Phillies 5K race. There is lot's of sunshine but it's only 30 degrees outside. I got to Citizens Bank Park and picked up my race packet and went back to my car so I could get out of the wind and stay warm. It wasn't this windy at my house but the ball park is surrounded by parking lot's so there isn't anything to deflect the wind.

I decided to pin my bib number on to my Phillies shirt, then I pulled the shirt over my fleece jacket and vest. I'd rather be warm then fashionable. I walk around the ball park and find the start / finish line is on the other side of the ball park. There are only a couple of people waiting so I walk right up to the line and when the race starts I'm one of the first people across the line. The Philly Phanatic came out of the ball park on his ATV and entertained us before the race started.

They fired the gun and we take off down the street. I've never been in the front row and I'm running too fast to sustain this pace. There is a young boy running next to me and I can hear his dad yelling at him to slow down. We make two right turns and now we are running in front of the ball park. Now the wind is hitting us in the face. People are passing me like I'm standing still but I look at my watch and see I'm still running a very fast pace. We make another turn and run into FDR park before heading back to the ball park. I'm getting tired and a little warm but I try to keep up my pace. I actually start passing a couple of people.

I'm across the finish line, grab a bottle of water and drop off my timing chip. I walk through the tunnel and follow the other racers into Citizens Bank Park. We walk around the outside of center field and head over to third base. As we cross home plate the photographer take our photo. 

It's too cold and windy to hang out on the field so I went to my car and drove home. On the way home as I got near the Radnor Hunt Club I saw a couple of cars stopped in the road. I stop and a guy walks over and asks if I mind waiting for the hunting party to pass through? Then I see the dogs and horses approaching across the field. There must have been 40 hounds chasing the fox and it was funny to see so many of the dogs jump over the split rail fence when they could have just run under the bottom rail. The riders pass by all dressed in their bright red jackets. I had never see a fox hunt before but now I can mark it off the list of things to see.

When I check the web site for the race results I found this slide show of the race. When the race started, I was in the front row wearing the red shirt and I'm standing next to the boy in the blue shirt. Too bad the photo wasn't for sale.

Bob Gannon
Chip Time 00:22:59
Finished 128 out of 3000
Finished 107 out of 1182 men
Finished 7 out of 73 in my age group