Lacamas Lake Memorial Day 5K and 10 Mile

Photo by Jana Bitton (my hottie wife)
Mike Bitton felt so powerful after completing the Lacamas Lake Memorial Day 5K, he struck a Hulk Hogan pose!

I ran my second-ever 5K on Memorial Day in Camas, Wash., one town east of my home in Vancouver, Wash. My wife and 3-year-old daughter came out to cheer me on. In training for the run, I usually would alternate running and walking, and could do about three miles in an hour that way. On race day, though, I was so amped up by seeing other people doing what I was trying to do, that I just ran the whole thing. In the back of my mind, I was hoping to finish in under 42 minutes, which is the time I had on my first 5K, the Nike Run Hit Wonder last year in Portland, Ore. About seven minutes into the race, I found myself having passed all the walkers, and was on pace with a woman who I stuck with for the rest of the race. Her name is Sherri and she's in her mid-50s. Her 20-something daughter had talked her into running some sections of the upcoming Hood to Coast Relay (from Mt. Hood to the Pacific Ocean), so Sherri was out "training." On the final push back to the finish, we had a long hill to climb. Sherri started to walk it, and was actually a little faster than my running (shuffling) pace. We started to coax each other up the hill: "It will flatten out soon," I told her between breaths, not actually knowing where the top of the hill was. "Good job running up the hill instead of walking it," she told me. I suddenly felt energized. How pleasant to have a companion during the toughest part of the run! We finally got to the top, and were elated. Reacing the finish line required about a quarter lap on a the Camas High School track. Sherri's 20-something daughter ran the last bit with her, and my 3-year-old daughter ran the last bit with me. I found fulfilment as a runner in three ways today. First, I beat my old time on the 5K by about two minutes! Second, I encouraged (and was encouraged by) an immediate friend who I may never see again. And third, my family was there to celebrate my second-ever footrace as an adult-onset athlete. What a glorious day.