Yes, I Still Race
The last race that I won was in 1975. There have been a few 2nd and 3rd place age group finishes. It is strongly suspected that there may have been only 2 or 3 runners in my age group. At least 3, probably more, of my grandchildren can beat me in a 100 yard dash. Maybe I race for the T shirts. Marathon finisher medals are cool. No, that is not the reason. It is the attitude.
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Today was the first time I went to an “official” event since May. An injury put a temporary halt to my running. Poor eating habits added to my problems. My injury has healed. Even walking every day improved my attitude. I visited a Registered Dietician. I started running again. It is never easy to start running. The temptation is there to say-walking is good. It is good, but it is not running. 2 months ago I could barely go a quarter of a mile before my first walk break. Within 2 weeks I could 
make it a mile before my first walk break. Walking around before I race, I realized how much I appreciate the happiness and positive vibe that surrounds a local 5k.
It was a Halloween themed 5k. Little girls were dressed as Disney characters. They were adorable. It was crowded at the beginning of the race. There was a little boy about 4 years old dressed as a race car driver. He zig zagged back and forth all full of energy. I just jogged and watched. His mom was trying to get him to slow down and run next to her. I mentioned to her that her boy was probably going to end up running 5 miles the way that he was going. There were 2 young women who lined up next to me who were wearing some kind of wings on their backs. I have zero idea of what costume they were going for. They were doing a pretty good job of cutting through the slower runners and I just decided to follow them. I hit the 
half mile mark at 5:05. The target pace was 4:50. My goal was to run the 3.1 miles in less than 30 minutes. At the mile I was at 9:44. My finishing time was 29:22 and I was enthused about reaching my goal of breaking 30.
All around the country members of the truckin' runners face book group are running a virtual 5k. I just did mine as part of a race. Others are doing the same thing. It is just awesome, when you tell people that you are a truck driver after you just beat them in a 5k. It blows away the stereotype and that is part of the reason that I race. Truckers are running 5ks in WI, FL, WV, WY, ID, VA, OH, IN, OK, TX, OR, CA, DC, MS, MI, and others. We are spreading the attitude. We are destroying stereotypes. We are getting healthier. We are raising money for the St. Christopher's Fund. Yes, today was a good day. I raced.