Twilight 5K!

Ran a 5K way up in the north west corner of Las Cruces at the base of a section of the Organ Mountains. It was on the Hawk Ridge Golf Club. The race was a benefit to the Mesilla animal guardians, and dogs were encouraged. The race was set for 5 P.M. (a long time before twilight!), and you could run on the cement cart path or on the grass at your own discretion. Everyone was given an expensive bib with a chip embedded on the back of the number. The winds were 20 plus mph swirling around the mountain from the north and west. They asked people to line up in 4 waves.....faster runners, recreational runners, dog runners, and walkers. Of course, folks never listen, and as there were as many dogs as people, I chose to line up with the first group, planning to go way to fast at the beginning so as not to be killed by a dog or dog leash. The start was directly north west right into the damn wind. It was also up hill. If you have never run on a hilly golf course, it is just constant sharp ups and downs. The entire first mile was uphill and into the wind, and just damn hard. I was in about 20th place out of about 200 folks. At almost exactly 2K, I passed the only person in the race who even looked to be over 50. Most of the next mile was wind aided and downhill. I was hoping for a nice circle around the back nine into the finish, but instead, we made a sharp turn and headed back uphill to the west. Last mile was misery. I had passed about 5 folks thru mile two, but these two young gals running together caught me on the last uphill and actually had the ability to sprint in ahead of me. I finished in 28:22. Not a great time, but acceptable for how hard a 5K it was. After jogging for a mile for a cooldown, I grabbed some water and a banana and watched lots of dogs drag their owners in. The awards were announced and I walked over, only to find that there were 4 award medals.....1st place male and female, and 1st place junior male and female. So, why they spent most of their race budget on chipped bibs and the use of an electronic mat timing system is beyond me. Stopped on the way home at Red Brick pizza for a flat bread sandwich and a draft beer, and then returned home. Will check back to see if they ever bother to post results on the race/golf course web site in the future just out of curiosity sake. Feel pretty sure I was the first guy in over 50.....
Crazy windy week. Had to re-stake the elder tree to keep it from blowing into Joe's yard. It is again the exact height needed to shade the master bedroom window, and I don't want it coming out of the ground again. All of the other yard plants are doing well, and I don't need to plant anything else if I can keep the rest alive....