You're going to have fun!! Just don't wear anything you haven't run in before & good luck

1. Goto sleep early. Or try to. I'm sure your anxieties are running high for this event! Don't worry too much though. Know that you've prepared yourself and trained well.

2. Have everything laid out and ready to go before you goto sleep.

3. When you get up, do your normal routine as much as possible. That is, if you normally eat breakfast, do so. If you normally don't, then skip it, or eat very light. Your eggs and toast should be fine.

4. Get to the race location early. At least an hour early I would advise. You don't want to feel rushed.

5. Once at the race location, use whatever restroom facilities are available as early as you can.

6. When you get ready to line up, ask others what their pace time is to try to find where you should fit in the bunch. You'll probably find that only a few people know this which is ok. If in doubt, position yourself about 2/3 - 3/4 back in the field.

7. When the race starts, start out slow and then speed up over time. You'll spend the first 1/2 mile or so jockeying for position navigating people who were ahead of you that should have ideally been behind you at the start. No worries, its fun passing, just dont go crazy passing at the start, you need to fall into your goal pace as soon as you can so that you can sustain for the duration.

8. About a mile into the race you'll probably start seeing the leaders passing back to the finish. Don't let this discourage you. They are fast. Crazy fast. Remember that this race is you against yourself. You're setting your own PR.

9. On your course, at your loopback turnaround point, feel free to kick up a notch, but dont go all out sprinting yet.

10. At the water station just past mile 2, be careful. I've yet to master drinking water from the cups and felt like I drowned myself during my first race. If you have no experience grabbing and drinking water while running, I would advise against it. Last thing you want to do is learn in a trial by fire situation during your first 5k!

11. Once you cross under the expressway, this is probably the point that I would go into afterburner mode running my hardest to the end.

12. Try not to slow down any until you cross that finish line. As you approach, your mind will be telling you that you're there and to ease up. Just keep pushing.

13. Celebrate your victory. You've earned it. Yes, it's OK to plow down on 1500+ calories in a celebratory meal after a race despite only burning a few hundred calories.

Good luck. And let us know how it went.

I was going to post this exact same question today! Thanks for sharing everyone.

These are really helpful! Thanks, everyone!