PVTC Christmas Caper 5k

So, my neighbor has decided to start running. Steve is a few years younger than me, but we get along pretty well and our families do too. His son and Noah play together and he and his wife have an infant that is basically the same age as Naomi. So, it kind of works out. They live just a few houses from us too, so it is very convenient. Except for the whole "youth pastor at a charismatic church" thing. That is correct. He is the youth pastor for a church that believes in living prophets and glossolalia, otherwise known as speaking in tongues. He hasn't told me all of this, but the beauty of the internet is that I can find all of this out and never have to ask him about it. Because if I brought it up, it might make for a very weird and uncomfortable conversation. But I digress...

So, Steve and I have started running together in the mornings. It has been a real help to me because it gives me the motivation to get up and out the door, something I've always had a problem with. Steve wanted to do a race together, so we signed up for the last PVTC race for the year, the Christmas Caper 5K/10K. It was at Belle Haven Park again and was the exact same route as the Cranberry Crawl 5K/10K. I like these races because they are cheap, small, and easy to get to. And, as you can imagine, the basic experience was the same. Weather was similar, old guy who you can't hear announcing the race was there, and the same group of old school folks in ratty clothes and with their strange running gaits all showed up.

I came in third in my age group, or so I thought. They had me in third on the results sheet at the race, so I rightfully took home a big stinky candle. But, on the website, they have me listed as fourth. So, I don't know where the mix-up was or which list to believe, but it doesn't really matter. I ran a bit slower this time, but I felt a bit better in doing so. No bad shin splint feeling and my hands didn't hurt from the cold. Besides, I'm sure as heck not going to drive over to Alexandria to return a freaking candle. How'd Steve do? A lot better than I did at my first 5K. He finished about 30 secs behind me and immediately decided he wanted to do more races.


PVTC Christmas Caper 5k Bib #347
Alexandria, VA
December 22, 8:00 am

Time: 22:48
Overall Place: 26/82
Gender Place: 19/49
Pace: 7:20