Kevin Cain 5K in Havertown

Kevin Cain 5K in Havertown - race #1

After four months of race hibernation, I felt somewhat ready to hit the pavement again. I picked the Kevin Cain Make My Day 5K in Havertown for the second year in a row. The seventh annual race on April 1 brought out over 400 runners & walkers on a cloudy day with temperatures reaching 51 degrees. (See photos & video of the race at http://tinyurl.com/6kfhcyb). The run benefits the Kevin Cain Memorial Foundation, which helps families with the financial strain while fighting cancer.
Starting at Annunciation B.V.M. on Brookline Boulevard, it's smooth sailing until I turn left onto the steep hill at Lawson Avenue. It's a pretty section of Havertown, with all the attractive Dutch Colonial homes & large trees which shade the street. Baby steps up the hill, I keep moving. Since it's an afternoon race, dozens of neighbors cheer on the runners as they race around their community.

      After a right onto Edgewood Road, we turn left at Strathmore Road. I notice that the route is a little different than last year, & it feels like it's taking forever to reach two miles! Right before I reach it, a friend of my from the YMCA, Don, who recently started running again, wishes me good luck. After a left on Beverly Road & a left at Kathemere Road, we head right onto Brookline Boulevard. The street is really wide & another change from last year is that there's a turnaround cone. With a block to go, I do my best impression of a "sprint." The race went ok, but I just like the morning races better. I'm not crazy about my time of 30:36, but I always seem to be near that time for this race.
   Grading on the route, ease and cost of registration, T-shirt appeal and the overall fun factorr, I give this race four-and-a-half sneakers out of five.
   Next up is the Ridley Run 5K.

Comments

Kevin Cain Make My Day 5K in Havertown - race #1

My goal is to run a 5K race each weekend in Delaware County (and one 10-miler in Philadelphia) for the next six weeks. They're fun, a goal I can work toward each week & they're almost all in a five-mile radius of my house. The races are usually $20, I get a T-shirt I can brag about & the money raised always go to a good cause. Back in 2008, my New Year's resolution was to run a 5K, and since then I've done 14 races. That year I started with the Kevin Cain Make My Day 5K in Havertown. (See photos & video of the race at http://tinyurl.com/6kfhcyb ). Being in good shape, I thought I could translate my swimmer's endurance from the pool to the pavement. It was a little bit tougher than that, and the Kevin Cain race is one of the more challenging 5K routes I've done. After taking off from it last year, I was back to race it last Sunday, April 3. It's a huge party, with a DJ pumping up the crowd beforehand and supporters line the ro

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