Race recap

Yesterday, my cousin and I ran the Revlon Run/Walk 5k. Last year we walked the race, this year we decided to try to run it. My cousin has been training for weeks (go girl!) and I've been trying to keep up with regular runs. We took the metro down bright and early (it dropped us off right across the street from the event - so convenient!) and walked around the expo. I have to say, the free swag was not quite as good as last year, but oh well, we still got some good stuff. We walked around the expo for a while, then lined up for the race. A lot of celebs were on hand to host the event (Matthew Morrison, AC Slater (Mario Lopez), Stacy Keibler, Halle Berry and Matt Bomer). The runners were supposed to start at 8:45 and the walkers were supposed to start at 9:00. There was no attempt to distance the 2 groups, and they just let everybody start at around 9:00. It took a few minutes to even get to the starting line, and even after that we had to dodge people for a while in order to be able to run. Trying to avoid walkers and stick together proved too difficult for us, so we split up and just went at our own pace. I felt good for most of this race - I kept a nice, easy pace and didn't feel too tired. I hit "the wall" when I saw the 3 mile marker - the last part felt so hard! But I finished and got my medal (from the cute volunteer firemen at the event). I used Map My Run to keep track of my time - it says that the route was actually 3.67 miles, which I ran in 40:23. Then my cousin and I sat and drank some water and had a snack before heading home. I think this is a super event, just not sure if I would run it again (maybe go back to walking it). It felt a little crowded to be dodging people all the time. But good for a fun run, rather than a seriously competitive one. I find that I like running in races - there's something so motivating about being in a huge group, all heading towards one goal. Which one next?