Race of Grace Race Report

I hadn't heard of the Race of Grace 5K until my friend Steve Worley called me late last week and asked me if I were planning on running it. Despite coming off a 17-mile marathon training run on Saturday, I figured what the heck, and decided to run this afternoon's Race of Grace, sponsored by Edenton Street United Methodist Church.

I met up with Steve and Brad Broyles, another local runner I met through Steve, before the race. The out-and-back 3.1-mile course started on West Edenton Street in downtown Raleigh, merged with Hillsborough Street, which took us in front of NC State University for the turnaround before heading back to the church. Various bands lined the course providing a mix of encouraging praise and worship music, making this 5K reminiscent of some of the musical marathons I've done in the past. I particularly enjoyed the group that played the handbell rendition of title theme from the movie Chariots of Fire theme. (I'd be surprised if you've never heard this theme since it's now parodied in just about anything related to running, but just in case you haven't, here's a sample audio clip.

It was a beautiful spring day for a run, but with temperatures hovering near 80 degrees, it was a bit warmer weather than I like to run in. Since I was coming off the long training run on Saturday, I hadn't planned on running for speed, but the race atmosphere got the best of me. Although I didn't anticipate doing so, I finished with a personal-best 5K time of 22 minutes, 39 seconds, eclipsing my previous 5K best of 23:09 that I set on Jan. 1 of this year by 30 seconds. Steve finished just over 25 seconds, and Brad -- who ran Saturday's Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tenn., then flew back to Raleigh in time to run the Race of Grace -- finished in 31 minutes.

The Race of Grace is a well-organized event, plus the crowd support and entertainment provided by the bands before and during the race gives it the feel of a bigger event. Plus, it's for a good cause with the proceeds going to urban ministries and other groups that address social issues such as homelessness, healthcare and hunger. Although this year was only the fourth running of the event, someone said it's quietly become one of the larger races in Raleigh. Judging by the turnout today, I believe it. I'm surprised I hadn't heard of it before this year, but it's a race I'll definitely try to add to my race calendar in the future.