Reflections of a Slow Runner: Sunshine Coast 5k: The Last of the 5k Races

On race day, the weather felt like a perfect [Canadian] summer day for lying on the beach.
Translation: stinking hot for running a race!
The 5k start was at 10.15am, so at 10am I was pressed amidst a mass of sweaty bodies, feeling nauseated, wondering why I was doing this.
The adventure didn't start there. It started a couple hours before. I had planned to go up with a friend and asked her to drive. We were having a great time chatting in the car, until my friend asked me whether we'd hit the turn-off. As I looked at the sign and realized we were at Noosa (about 30min north of our planned destination), I discovered a communication error: both of us had assumed the other knew where to go!
Oops! Since looking at maps in a moving vehicle is a sure recipe for me to get car sick, my friend pulled over and we sorted out where to go. Well, I knew where to go, I just hadn't checked out how to get there!
Fortunately, I had planned for a 1-hour race buffer. 1 hour may sound like a lot of time, but there is lots to do:
1. Find parking in a spot far away - the only chance of getting a good spot is if your race is first up, which my little 5k was definitely not!
2. Walk to start line from far away parking spot
3. Wait in the loooong line of runners & supports to use one of the limited facilities (port-o-potties) available.
4. Warm-up for race
5. Line-up in good position for starting

This is about 1k into the race. And it was a mental battle not to walk!

Because of the gaffe, my pre-race routine was cut short. I decided to cut the warm-up. I knew my energy was limited so no point wasting it before the race starts!
And so as I stood swaying in the heat of the sun and trying to ignore the smell of the sweaty bodies around me, I decided that I really don't like racing 5ks.
I had seeded myself 1/3 of the way back through the crowd, thinking I would do decently but not fabulously. I shouldn't have bothered. Up near the front of the group amidst all the people keen to run hard was a large group of elderly walkers - distinguishable by their matching shirts that proudly stated their retirement home. Okay, I shouldn't stereotype. There may have been runners among them eager to show the young 'uns they could still kick butt. But there was one man with a cane and another who was using a fellow senior citizen as a balance post as she tottered on her feet, so I was doubtful they were running.
So much for a seeded start.

The gun went off and I decided nope, I won't be racing another 5k official race in a long time. I will stick with my 5k Park Runs, and my 5k fun runs, but I won't be racing another 5k race any time soon. It feels like the forgotten distance" - an after-thought to the other races, if you will. The start times are bizarre and if the words "racing etiquette" were spoken the participants would respond with "gesundheit". So why run it as a race, when I could save these 5k distances for fun runs with friends?
But on the other side, racing a 5k is very convenient when you're sick.