What's a 5k anyway?

5k stands for five kilometers and is the equivalent of 3.1 miles. Therefore, a 10k is 6.2 miles.

This event is not a Boston Marathon qualifier. 

A marathon, btw, is 26.2 miles. I have run two: the Seattle Marathon in 2001 and the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon in 2002.

Back then, the Seattle Marathon was held in November which is typically cool, overcast, and drizzly. The year I did it was two months after 9/11. It felt like a scary time to assemble 10,000 people downtown and to send them running on a floating bridge that connects Seattle to its eastern suburbs. I wore a windbreaker and a baseball cap. My hair was in a ponytail that was pulled through the opening in the back of the cap and through my hair, I threaded the stem of a little American flag - of the kind you might wave at a Fourth of July parade.

A photographer noticed and snapped my picture and the image of the back of my head with a flag in my ponytail was made part of the promotional materials the following year. By that time, I had run the Cincinnati Marathon and became a volunteer for the Seattle Marathon organization in their office to help with the following year's event.

I pretty much gave up running after that. Now, I walk and last May, I walked a half marathon as a virtual participant of the Cincinnati Marathon. The best part, besides the fact that I walked all 13.1 miles within the Trilogy at the Polo Club property, was the group of people ringing cowbells for me at the the finish line. It felt wonderful to be supported in this way!

I'm going to be getting ready for another half marathon soon and what better to start than with a 5k? I hope you'll join me!