Forty-four minutes and four seconds was my finish time.
The race was the third event in the PPTC Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series 5K. NYCRUNS recorded the result and sent a short confirmation after I finished. It thanked me for coming out and running, then gave me the number: 44:04.
Preliminary results were due later that night. The confirmation gave runners twenty-four hours to report a discrepancy.
The note closed by thanking me again for running with PPTC and NYCRUNS. That was it.
Earlier that year, a stress fracture had put running on hold. I had kept moving with spin classes when I could fit them around the new job. A 5K finish was different. It put me back on a race clock.
The result was not fast. I was not going to pretend that the word “speed” in the series name made 44:04 into something else. I had gone out, covered the distance, and finished.
Running was only one part of the week. A few days before the 5K, I had registered for Rapha Rides New York. The ticket reserved a place on the River Road morning clubhouse ride with a 6:30 start two days after the race.
The cycling ticket was a plan, not a result. The 5K had the confirmed finish.
NYCRUNS had the time. PPTC had another finisher in the series. I had one clean number from the evening.
Two mornings later, the bike ride was on the calendar for 6:30. The 5K email stayed simpler: congratulations, thanks for running, 44:04.