Rise to the Challenge 5K

An overcast morning greeted NORSA co-founder, Tom Saffell, as he awoke at 7:00 AM after a late night at McFadden's in DC. Rushing to shower and get to the race before the 8:00 start time, Tom later realized that he was an hour early for the 9:00 actual start time of the St. John's "Rise to the Challenge" 5K to raise money for the church and support healthy lifestyles for youth across the county. So, after sleeping in his car for 45 minutes, Tom went to the packet pick-up and donned his bib for the race.

The race started promptly at 9:00 AM and took Tom and the other runners through areas of the township near St. John the Evangelist Church. The course was interesting since it was seemingly very short, but the runners soon discovered that they would have to lap the long loop in the middle of the course twice. The fellow who won the race was a University of Richmond Track & Field athlete and, though the times were not chip-computed and are yet to be confirmed, it's a pretty solid estimate that he finished in roughly 26 minutes

After the race, blood pressure readings were available, blood donations signups were accepted, bagels and Gatorade were provided, as well as bananas and oranges - the usual post-race shenanigans that follow most road-running races.