I had just two goals going in and I reached both. They were to finish without walking. The finish was never in jeopardy, but I wanted to walk a couple of different times. I know that a walk/run stategy is probably easier and maybe even faster, but I want to be a runner, so I ran. The weather was perfect for me, high 60's and cloudy with a threat of rain and very light winds. There were 637 of us out there. I made sure to make my to the back of the pack before the start so I would not get in anybody's way and limit the shear number of people that would be passing me. The race started at the fairgrounds on the horse track that is crushed stone and then dumps out onto the streets and makes it's way to the airport to a turnaround for the return to the finish. The course is mostly flat with a few very small elevation changes. I have been wearing my heart rate monitor for most of the C25k training, so I had devised a strategy for how hard to run based on my heart rate. The plan was to run the first mile around 150 bpm and the second mile around 160 bpm and the final mile around 170 bpm with as hard as I could run for the finish line. Two problems with that strategy, first I got caught up with the excitement and ran around 160 bpm for the first mile or so and secondly, there were no mileage markers and I had no idea of where I was as far as distance traveled. With the higher heart rate from the start, I didn't have much room to run faster and I knew my heart rate would gradually rise even at the same pace, so I kept the same pace for all three miles and then ran as hard as I could for the final stretch. I had expected to finish somewhere in the 45 minute range as my training runs are at 15 minute mile pace. I was the 43rd of 44 men in my age bracket and 566th overall. I think I might have been the last "runner" as the only people I passed were walking. I knew the winners would be finishing in around 15 or 16 minutes, but was a bit taken back on how soon they passed me coming back in. The volunteers, random racers, and supporters were great encouragers. My wife and two boys had made signs while I was out on the couse and positioned themselves near the finish line so I could see them as I came around the final corner. I now have a personal record: 41:35

Congratulations on your first race! It sounds as though you enjoyed yourself, and you have a pretty good time as well. Now you have a good benchmark to measure against for your next race!

Congrats on finishing!! Woot on having a starting time to compare to next time too I cant wait for my first 5k!!

Great job! First 5k and you didn't have to walk! Way to go!