In July, Jon and I participated in the Davis Moo-nlight Run again. This was our third year. You might recall that we did the 5K before in 2019. Then there was a bit of a gap during the pandemic when no races took place, but we went back last year and I was so thrilled that Jon was up for doing it again this year. He’s still not a runner, but has been working with a personal trainer at the gym for a year now and I am so proud of him for sticking with it!
We had an extended excessive heat leading up to the race and we were worried that it was going to be a repeat of last year when the race took place on one of the hottest days of the year. The Davis Moo-nlight Run, as the name suggests, is an evening race starting shortly before sunset, and last year it was still 90F/32C at 8:30 pm.
We were a little luckier this year because we finally got some relief on Saturday due to an overcast day and the help of a nice Delta breeze. It had cooled down to 85F/28C by 8 pm. 5 degrees make a huge difference.
The race goes through a residential neighborhood in East Davis but the start and finish lines are in an industrial part of town, which means there is plenty of easy (and free) parking.
We left home a little early to get dinner before the race and then made our way over to the race area with plenty of time to get our race bibs.
We were hoping to finish in <60 minutes again. We had a little bit of a slow start with so many walkers at the start line. But it was awesome to see a diverse group of participants. There were people of all ages, moms with strollers, some younger kids and some older people, and even some people pushing wheelchairs. I told Jon I was going to keep an eye on my watch and give some updates along the way.
Jon set off at a pretty good pace and we passed the 1st mile marker in no time. I encouraged Jon to pick up the pace. He was able to do so and we started passing groups of people. It was like walking intervals – speeding up to pass, then slowing back down to a steady pace. We kept doing this for the next two miles.
We finally crossed the finish line right around the 1-hour mark. Again the course mile markers were a bit off, but we did end up with almost exactly 3.1 mi/5k on my watch. Our official time was 58:56, which was faster than last year. Not by much, but we accomplished our goal. I was also happy that Jon did not build up as much sweat and felt pretty good at the finish line. It’s also proof of some improved fitness. I am so happy – and proud of him – that he agreed to do this with me again!
