Return to Flight

The Lunar Rendezvous 5k started precisely on time at 7:30 am this fine July morning. The start time was 142 minutes after the Space Shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station below.



The weather was downright frigid as compared to day time on the moon since the lunar mean surface day temperature will boil water at 225 degrees Farhrenheit. So in contrast to the moon, the conditions were ideal for a good time. Approximately 375 runners and 1 wheelchair contestant toed the line for the trip through NASA's Johnson Space Center.

It appears that I was the lone HRB'r in the race. Club members were reportedly frightened off by JoeC's threatened "Hips" running gait. Unfortunately, this vile rumor had not reached the five runners that placed ahead of me in my age group, since they dared to show up. With five places in the money, JoeC's sixth place 23:04 was as useful as kissing his sister. Damn.

The race started promising enough as I was on PR pace at mile 2. Perhaps I should not have tried the "moonwalk" over the last mile. Nevertheless, I felt pretty good about my run and my time. While I beat this time on three occasions earlier this year, the conditions were somewhat more favorable. I'll be shooting to go under 23 on August 12.

Congratulations to overall winners Alan Hendengren and Alison Pye and masters winners Gerrado Mora and Bonnie Jo Barron. Thanks to Jay Lee, On the Run and the Bay Area Running Club for a fine event at Space Center Houston.