Rudy Marecic 5K

For two years (2000 and 2001), some friends and I ran in the Rudy Marecic 5k, in West Mifflin, which is near Kennywood Park. I have no idea if that race still exists; I cannot seem to find any recent information about it. But at that time, it was one of my favorites to run.

What I recall most vividly about my first Rudy race is my brother, who lived in NC and was visiting for the weekend, running with us. My friends and I were struggling during the first or second mile. And there was Joe, running backwards, grabbing us water, not even breaking a sweat. I asked him to stop running backwards, and he said not to worry, that he was fine. I told him I was not worried about his falling; I and my two girlfriends pretty much just wanted to wipe that smile off his face. And maybe trip him. Joe was someone who ran regularly; keeping pace with a couple of gals in their late 20s was child's play for him. I was surprised he did not run back to the beginning of the race and then catch back up with us. But, yes, I was glad he did get us water. And it was kind of cool to run a race with my faraway brother.

There were two other things I remember about the Rudy Marecic race, the prizes and the placement. My brother and friends all won something (I think Joe ended up with some raft). I, alas, was prizeless. But I got something even better--my first running trophy! I placed second in my age group (25 to 29). My time was 27:28 (thanks again, Google).

When we ran it again next year, then knowing there was a killer hill and having more experience under our belts (well, running shoes), I was able to knock more than a minute off my time. Still ended up in second place. And with another trophy (ah, the things that make me smile).

That is the beauty of small 5ks: you don't have a lot of competition. I highly recommend running in a few of those if you are interested in ending up in the top spots of your age group.