#94 in the Poland Springs 5-miles Kick-off race

Despite jet lag and warnings to taper off, I joined the 5-miles (or 8-km) Poland Springs Marathon kick-off race this morning. My bib number was # 94. Man, its a major fluke! I made a mistake of putting my pace down to 6 min per mile; duh - dyslexic--i meant 6 min per kilometer; because of this, I placed in the first corral (#1-999) among champions and elite runners. I loved my spot though because I was next to the stage and saw everyone from Mayor Bloomberg's rep, the Poland Spring (sponsor) exec and an actor who sang the national anthem (and ran too and will run next Sunday).
There were 8,000 runners (40,000 are expected in the marathon). Of course, everyone was overtaking me including the runners with numbers 2000 (2nd coral), 3000 (3rd coral) and so on. I think the Philippines' race organizers should learn from the Americans. The whole 5-mi course was so organized with volunteers cheering us on, visible signs per mile, water stations with lots of water and portalets stationed along the way. I didn't push myself since I'm still jet lagged with the nagging fear that I won't be able to walk after. I should actually be resting and saving my legs for the big day.
Saw Jeremy Pivens in "Speed the Plow" on broadway yesterday afternoon. He plays the same Entourage character in the play - neurotic, fast talking producer. The play just opened Thurs and got raving reviews in the New York Times. Will check out Miller's "All my Sons" sometime this week which stars Lithgow, Wiest and Katie Holmes.