The merry month of May

I am looking for May to be an eventful month in my running, with several races that should be quite enjoyable. I begin the month with a 5K on Friday evening, May 1, in Mason (near Lansing), where my brother-in-law and his family live. (The course finishes past their house, and Chip and Carla and their kids, Lauren [5] and Grant [2] (our godchildren), enjoy watching the runners go by.) Secondly, on Sunday morning, May 3, I'm planning to do a 10K here in Ann Arbor - the Burns Park Run. Next, my son John graduates from St. Olaf College in Minnesota (my alma mater, too) on Sunday, May 24, and the previous day, as part of what they call Celebration Weekend, St. Olaf runs a 5K, which I am planning to do. Then I'll finish the month with the biggest challenge of all. The Dexter-Ann Arbor Run is a big annual happening in these parts. In 2007 I ran the 5K portion of it; last year I did the 10K; and this year I intend to step up to my longest run since my accident, doing the half-marathon (13.1 miles). It begins in the small town of Dexter, west of us, winds along the Huron River Drive, and finishes in downtown Ann Arbor. At one point I was hoping I might be able to do it in 2 hours, but now I'm thinking 2:15 is a much more realistic goal. (I ran the Twin Cities [MN] Marathon in 1984 and 1992 in 3:32:45 each time ... but I was a lot younger then, and without some other baggage, as well.)