Johnny’s Race Blog: Finishing The Race

November 3, 2014 /

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Entry — 8

JOHNNY FLORES/ Coachella Uninc.

After weeks of training, I can finally say I did it. I finished the Dia De Los Muertos 5K run in just over 36 minutes, placing 232 out of 412 runners. And in the male age group of 19 and under, I was 26th.

After the first mile, I felt like giving up, even though there were still two miles left to run. However, I knew in my heart that I couldn’t give up. I did not train for several weeks for nothing. I was determined to finish the race. Backed by the entire city of Coachella, and my Uncle Genaro, I was able to finish the race with flying colors. I’d like to thank Raices for putting together the race. It was not an easy feat to organize a race for over 400 participants and the community. I’d also like to thank the entire community of Coachella. It’s amazing to see people you don’t even know sitting on their front porches as you race by cheering you on. That extra motivation allowed me to continue racing. Finally, thank you to all the volunteers for handing out water to us at the various stops. It’s certainly not easy to make sure that hundreds of competitors zooming by get the necessary hydration to continue on, so thank you.

I plan to continue my training. Being fit is fun, and seeing the fruits of your labor come to fruition is even better. Hopefully, in the near future, I’ll be able to run in another 5K run or an even larger race. Until then, I’m going to rest my aching muscles.

Thank you for counting on me through this journey.