Drove to Atlantic City, NJ., to run two races this weekend. 5k today. Half marathon tomorrow.

This Floridian was thrilled to see the weather forecast earlier in the week. A cool down, lows in the 40s.

Not so thrilling was the delay of the rain through this morning bringing the cold, just long enough to make things interesting.

Thoughts crossed my mind to scratch the 5k. “This bed is warm. Who purposefully runs in the rain? I don’t have to overachieve today.”

Those thoughts didn’t win. Showed up. Surprised myself with an age group win (3rd).

These events always provide inspiration. It’s not hard to see if you pay attention. Today’s examples:

• The 2nd overall 5k female finisher with a time of 19:38 was 10 years old. (Not sure if that’s inspirational or just mindblowing)
• The oldest runner today was Alan Donziger. At age 83, he finished in the top 25% of all 5k runners with a time of 29:59.
• At the turnaround on the wet boardwalk, one of the guys in front of me wiped out. He got right up and kept going. “Not the first time I’ve fallen.”
• As I drew to the finish line, the 10k runners were looping by us. In that pack were two runners pushing wheelchairs of their disabled partners. Always crowd favorites.

To all 960 runners today, congratulations on showing up, not letting the invasive thoughts win.

See you again in the morning for day 2!