How did you start running? That’s a question I’m frequently asked, and I don’t have an epic story. However, I can identify my first race as the Flying Pints 5k in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 22, 2013.
A running graduate student
I was attending graduate school at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Many of the grad students in the Animal Science department found comradery in gathering each Monday for a 5k fun run/walk affiliated with the local beer market, where there was a dollar off a beer (or two) waiting for us at the finish line.
Somehow that weekly 5k fun run turned into signing up for an actual 5k race, and the rest, as you know, is history.
I ended up “training” on roads around the house – I lived a good 20 minutes from campus at the time in a farmhouse where I could afford the rent by doing lawn work. There were plenty of times I was lucky cars didn’t run me over and I had no clue what I was doing (I still don’t some days).
I actually do have those runs recorded on Strava, imported from MapMyRun, or whatever program worked on my early-generation Blackberry at the time.
It started by wanting to be faster for our Monday beer market 5ks. I’d frequently run anywhere from 3 to 6 miles, several days each week. And next thing you know, I’d signed up for my first race.
Flying Pints 5k
Let’s be honest. I don’t remember much from this first race. Other than a single Facebook post announcing that I’d run a 5k that morning, there appears not to be much of a digital record of the event.
I didn’t even save the race bib, but I do have the race shirt stashed away in a box somewhere.
The Flying Pints 5k race was a small event hosted by a local group that organized our weekly Monday run. I remember showing up in the parking lot of Old City Knoxville WAY too early and sitting in the truck waiting until the last minute to approach the start line.
From what I perceived, there were a ton of hills and climbing along the course, but Strava tells me it was a total of 89 feet. Haha. If only I knew what was to come.
I do remember being super worried about getting off course because there weren’t many runners around me. And when I got to the finish line at 25:31 (an 8:02 pace), I didn’t stick around for some reason. I just got in the truck and left.
Looking back now, it’s disappointing to know the running community I likely missed out on.
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