RACE REPORT - Albany Last Run 5K

I was Brett Favre for a day. This was to be my last race. After today, I was going to retire. However, I would soon change my mind and return to racing a mere three weeks later. It would probably be more appropriate to call this race the swan-song of my season. If I were Lance Armstrong, this was my Tour Down Under. The only goal being to have a good time with the friends and family that joined me for the race. OK, lets get started...

Greeting us at the starting line was a massive display of fireworks, all of which I failed to capture with my camera. Did I mention it was cold out and I was too lazy to remove my gloves to attempt photography?

I just want to say that today I also learned I simply CANNOT take photos while wearing gloves OR while running. As you will see, shit is about to get ugly!

City Hall, across the street from the Empire State Plaza

(where I do a lot of my speed-work)

We hit the line and this was our view - the old city hall and a slight uphill. Only a couple of blocks north of here and we'd be running past my apartment. And before we knew it, we were off.

Less than 1/4 mile in, going north on State Street

A flattering photo of Elaine, and my photography skills

The run was pretty crowded the entire time, especially (as always) in the early stages. However, after getting off of the main city-streets, we soon entered into Washington Park, where all of the Christmas lights were set up. It was much more relaxing and visually stimulating in there, which made for a much more enjoyable (yet crowded) run.

Proof of my in-action photography skills (Christmas lights)

Niiiiiiiiice photo, huh? Anyway, we were soon hitting the home-stretch, with Ross, Todd and myself pulling away from the girls. We hit the line with a blistering time of... 29:26!! Wowsas!

The pack of donkeys, including myself with 4 layers on

Needless to say, the bar isn't set very high for next year and I can already feel a PR in the works!