I Just (Don't) Wanna Fly

 Considering my extreme fear of flying, doing a run at an airport (Wings of Mercy Runway 5K) kind of seems like a match made in hell.  Add in the fact I was already down a full day Friday with a sore throat and sinus infection, and you really can't expect much.  I'm not even sure why I showed up for this run.  Honestly it was the only part of the entire weekend (June 21st) I was up and moving, and it took a good bit of knock-off cold medicine to make that happen.

As I drove toward Linden's Price Airport (which is pretty much made for smaller planes), I also got the bright idea to get a check in toward my "Layover" badge on Untappd.  Hell, when will I ever be at an airport?  I need 5 check-ins to get that one, and I have to take the opportunities that are presented to me.  Speaking of, there aren't many beer opportunities available for under $1.50 (needed the rest of my $$$ for registration), so I ended up getting a tall boy of Busch Copper Lager.  As much as I hate AB-Inbev, and as bad as I think their products usually are, I actually kind of liked it.  Then again, my taste was probably inhibited at the time, because, like Dewey Cox, I was without a sense of smell.

So, I'm stealthily drinking my beer in my car, and I run into one of my friend's parents, who park right in front of me.  I see them out at races a lot.  However, I'm not usually failing the "my breath doesn't smell of alcohol" test, so, yeah, semi-embarrassing.  Maybe they didn't notice.

I toss the empty can, still in its paper bag, in the trunk, and I start walking around looking at planes in the hangars.

At this point, I'm kind of burning up, and sweating bullets already.  Maybe my wife was right, I didn't need to be here.  I still hadn't registered.  I could go home.  I didn't.  I registered and went out on the runway, taking more pictures of planes.

I also tried to take a photo of the Air Balloons far in the background, which is the only thing I can imagine more frightening to ride in than a plane.

Balloons!

This Place is SCARY

Once it got a little darker and more twilight-looking, we lined up to run.  There were only about 100 people there, so if there was ever a chance that everyone that showed up was a first-timer amateur that was slower than me and I was going to win the thing outright, now was the time!

Not to play spoiler, but that didn't happen.  The leaders left me in their dust as usual, and it was just up to me to run a good race, despite the sickness.  Most of the race was very straight down the large runway, with a few double-backs and a small loop off to the side.  So, most of the race, you had a lot of real estate and racers in front of you, in your line of sight.

That must have helped me a lot, or maybe I just got the right mix of hops and cold medicine.  Nobody will ever know.  I hope none of it was on the banned PED list.  I cruised in with a 24:49, flat 8 minute mile pace, and logged my second best time ever.  Yep, again, no PR.  Could it still fall this year, though?  Sure, it's a 24:32.  We're talking seconds...

I was very happy with this race.  I wish I knew I was closer to breaking my time.  I probably would have forced it more.  I just wanted to survive it.  Since I ran a 26:39 in the Flushing Evening 5K just 3 days before (when I was still well), I just wasn't expecting to get near the PR.

Still, I can't complain, and I got a yellow shirt with print that glows in the dark.

Glow-in-the-Dark is cool

I should also mention that this is also considered practice for the Air Force Marathon, where there will also be planes (I'm assuming).  So yeah, that will be my marathon #3 (unless I fit another in before then).