Which Way?

I ran in my first 5K this morning and had some goals going into it I hoped to achieve. I was close to my goal for my overall time, but didn't win a medal. There was an interesting development in the race as confusion arose over the layout of the course. This led to almost all of the runners turning down the wrong road and running 2.2 miles instead of 3.1 miles. I had run the course a few times based on an online map so I didn't think we were on the right track. Instead of following the runners in front of me, I chose to double back to get back on course even though it cost me and put me in a definitive minority. I don't regret the experience or my decision even if it didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped.

Life will present opportunities to either choose to follow the crowd or set your own course. Hopefully, we're aware enough to know what is right and can stick to that direction even if we don't end up running with the crowd.