Over the past two decades, I’ve been to countless 5K and 10K runs.

I have a closet full of T-shirts to prove it. At least I did. Before the move to LA, I tossed about half my T-shirts. But all those shirts were gifts — I never participated in any of the runs.

As a sports editor, I needed to be at the finish line to get pictures of the overall male and female winners, as well as the times of the top runners. The closest I came to being in a race was riding in the back of the lead truck at a 10K last summer. It did allow me to get some interesting shots.

The lack of participation ended last Sunday morning with the Leprechaun Chase. Since it is sponsored by St. Patrick’s School in Robertsdale, I figured it would be a great chance to wear my “I climbed Croagh Patrick” T-shirt.

In July 2008, I visited Ireland. My 16-year-old nephew and I hiked to the top of Patrick’s Mountain, a 2,500-foot peak in County Mayo. For someone from the flatlands, it was quite a hike. We walked through a cloud and got sopping wet. As the terrain leveled out, I hoped we were close to the top. It was then that I realized the approach was on an adjacent peak. I still had quite a ways and a whole other mountain to go. Hours later on a trail that seemed to stretch straight up and was covered with loose rock, I finally made I to the summit. As I approached the little chapel, the wind and sleet was stinging my face (remember, this was July).

I used to walk about 2 miles every morning. Since moving to Baldwin County, I haven’t. Now that Kathy and I have settled into our house, we thought a 5K would be a good way to kick off a renewed effort to exercise more. Filling out the registration form, I had to choose one of two options — runner or race walker. I crossed out race and circled walker. I knew I wasn’t going to be jogging or even walking fast,

The race was Sunday morning, the same morning the time changed, so I lost an hour of sleep before trekking 3.1 miles. We saw a host of folks wearing green — green shirts, green socks, green hats, green wigs, green skirts and even one guy in a kilt. But I’m pretty sure I was the only one with a Croagh Patrick shirt.

Kathy tried to go with a rabbit start, to make sure we didn’t finish last. We went past the first water station near Garrett Park. Since water stations are normally set up at mile markers, I thought we were a third of the way through the race. Unfortunately, a third of a mile later, we passed a guy with a stopwatch calling out times and standing next to a sign with a big “1” on it.

Kathy set her sights on a woman, an obviously experienced walker, who was in front of us. When the woman stopped to tie her shoe, we passed her. She soon passed us back. After the turnaround at the halfway point, we passed her going up a long uphill stretch on County Road 52.

As we approached the finish line, I could see the other woman just behind us. I was going slow down and let Kathy beat me. It seemed like the proper thing to do. As the timer ticked closer to 54 minutes, Kathy sped up to make sure she beat her rival.

We ended up 170th and 172nd out of 185 walkers. We weren’t last, but we could see it without squinting.

William Moore is the Senior Editor at Gulf Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at wmoore@gulfcoastnewspapers