I always love the Run, White & Blue 5K, but this year, I didn’t love the weather. It’s happened before — the race is held on a Thursday evening in early September, so it’s bound to be at least somewhat hot. This year’s race was Sept. 3, and it was particularly hot and humid — 89 degrees with a dew point of 76.
I wanted to run well, but I’m also realistic and didn’t want to fall victim to the heat. I remember another year before the race, there as a message like, “don’t be a hero,” regarding the high temps.
The run is held at Delaware Technical Community College in Georgetown, Delaware, and this was my 11th year participating. There’s always a full spread of food after the 5K, including my favorite part — the ice cream truck. The race benefits scholarships for veterans and first responders.
Usually, the Run, White & Blue 5K is the Thursday after the Mike Sterling 10K. This year, it was two days before the 10K.
The race is always held around the anniversary of 9/11. A speaker at the beginning mentioned something like that for many participants, this was just a historical event — as on the day of this year’s race, we were a week and a day out from the 25th anniversary. I looked around and saw many high school students, who obviously wouldn’t have been alive then. It always seems a little weird that there are now fully grown adults who weren’t alive or weren’t old enough to remember this horrific day. I was 10 (would be 11 the following month) and in sixth grade.
Because of the weather, I decided to do 3:00 run/0:20 walk intervals, which I kept up for most of the race, with a little extra walking. The intervals motivated me, and I knew I never had too long until the next walk break. I got water at each of the three water stops, too.
The course is two laps around the campus, with the second loop a little bit shorter than the first.
Even with the walk breaks, I ran the first mile in 9:29, but I slowed down after that, and each mile got slower. I completed the second mile in 10:16 and the third in 10:53. I skipped the last walk break and ran the last bit (0.11 on my watch) in a 1:01, a 9:04 pace.
For much of the race, I was near a woman pushing a double stroller. She even ran carrying her baby for a little bit — and still finished ahead of me. Impressive!
My watch and results times were basically the same — 31:38 on the results and 31:39 on my watch. That’s a 10:10-10:11ish average pace.
I’d run several faster 5Ks in 2026, but I really wasn’t worried about my time because of the weather. It was a hard effort, and it was time for ice cream!
I made my way to the Vanderwende’s truck and got ice cream, then joined the food line and had some pizza, barbecue, cole slaw and beer. It was too hot for me to have more than the small amount of beer in the cup; my body was exhausted. My watch logged my average heart rate at 170 for the race.
Other friends/Eastern Shore Running Club members ran the race as well, so it was nice connecting with them, too. I’ve placed at this race in the past, and I didn’t this year, but I did come in sixth of 22 in the female 30-39 age group.
I’m planning to be back again next year!
Splits
Mile 1: 9:29
Mile 2: 10:16
Mile 3: 10:53
Last part (watch had .11): 1:01 (9:04/mile pace)
Final: 31:38 / 10:11 pace on results; 31:39 /10:10 pace on watch
