YAY!! Completed the 5K Run Today!!

Today was the 5K run!!! It was AWESOME!!
First I have to say I was very discouraged because I was dreading on waking up so early. The race was at the reliant and started at 8am. Which meant I had to be at Steph's house by 6:15am. Well, first it was 7am than 6:30am than 6:15am, so I basically stopped talking to her till I showed up at her house because every time we spoke she would shave time off which meant less sleep. I did go to bed pretty early that night, but it seems like I woke up every hour - UGH.
Well the dreaded 5:40am came. I have to say that this early in the morning there is NO traffic. I think on a Sunday morning that early it was just me.
I arrived to Steph's house on time!!! Not in the best of moods I might add. Leah got there a few minutes after me. We all piled in Stephs' car and drove down to the reliant. We got there with 30 minutes to spare. Just enough to use the potty and down a "Rock Star" (an energy drink) I never had one in my life. I must say it did give me some energy but I will never drink one again before a race. It definetly didn't do me any good. I felt very bloated.
Running was me, Leah, Steph and Tara. This was my first, Leahs second, Stephs third and I don't know how many Tara has run.
It's weird because the closer it got to take off the nervousness started to set in.
Finally we all took off. There was a descent crowd but not to over crowded. I was not really concerned about time, my real goal was to run the 5K (3.2 miles) non-stop. Which i'm proud to say that I did accomplish my goal. Ran non-stop and completed in 28.27 minutes. My music helped me through half of it. Yes, there is power in music.
There were 2 hills which were not a nice surprise - UGH!
What I found interesting is that there were two water stations where volunteers handed you water if you needed it, but people just threw their cups on the ground. I was not expecting that and had to chuckle because I remember seeing this on TV. So, yes some things do happen in real life.
The biggest relief was when I saw the finish line! You start sprinting towards it and it's such a relief and accomplishment to cross it.
At the end they had all these free give aways, mainly food. There was everything you could think off - Chick Filet, Papa Johns, Pei Wei, Kolache Factory, Randalls, Crepes, Dessert etc..... which was all worth it for me. I didn't eat much just a few samples.
It was great knowing that we ran for a cause - brain cancer research. It was very touching because there were so many people that have or know some one that has been effected by this disease. Anyone can do this race. There were young, old, man, women and children. Hey I got passed up twice by fathers pushing their triplets in a stroller. In the end your time doesn't matter but that you came and did what you signed up for and that is, cross the finish line and support the cause.
This was an amazing experience and I'm looking to my other 5K runs. Hopefully in the fall i'll move up to the 10K runs. I have an amazing group of girls that are my support and we keep each other going.