“Please ignore the faces I make while running.”
(Unknown)
My Walk into the Future continues to provide me with new adventures and places to explore. This is not a huge surprise since that is one of my goals in life and why the blog title is Walk into the Future. Adventures await around every corner if you just open your eyes to the possibilities.
I ventured over to Orlando last year for my first 4th of July race. I didn’t know if I would enjoy the experience since this was a July race in Florida. It was hot but not unbearable. I decided to find a different 4th of July race in 2026 and signed up for the Freedom 4-miler in Tequesta, Florida. The 4-mile distance was new for me, and I never ventured down to Tequesta before, so this was a completely new adventure for me.
The Village of Tequesta is the northernmost city in Palm Beach County. I passed the exit on my way to West Palm Beach, but I’ve never got off on exit 87B to explore this village. The Freedom 4-Miler was my opportunity to run a new distance and get a chance to get to a new city. Tequesta is only a 50-minute drive from Fort Pierce, but I decided to book a hotel down there the night before the race to eliminate me having to get on the road at 4:30 am to make the start line. I’m a Marriott person and had enough points for a free night’s stay so this was an easy decision for me.
The drive down I-95 was uneventful, which was great for me. Packet pickup was held in Constitution Park, and this gave me an opportunity to get a feel for the village. It was a cute little park, and packet pickup was very basic. Get your Bib, T-shirt and a few goodies and leave. There was not an EXPO feel, but the folks were super friendly and seemed to be happy to see all the runners.
The Village of Tequesta is only two miles from the Jupiter Inlet, so I headed over there and found a seat at Square Grouper. Yes, Jupiter has a Square Grouper, and I wanted to check it out to see if it is different from the Fort Pierce version. Both locations have similar setups, but the Jupiter version has a boat dock, and a lot of folks pull up in their boats which I thought was a major flex move—well played rich people! 😊 I stayed at Square Grouper long enough to get a few pictures of the lighthouse and a fisherman feeding a pelican—true story!
I headed to Duffy’s Bar and Grill to get in some carb loading. I didn’t need anything huge for the 4-mile race but wanted to ensure I had the fuel needed to run a good race. I stuck to the tried-and-true meal of wings, fries and plenty of beer. I don’t have a Duffy’s close to me, but the food was pretty good, and the beer was ice-cold, baby! My hotel was across the street from Duffy’s, so I made my way over there to get off my feet and rest up for the battle to come on the racecourse.
I didn’t know how popular this 4-mile race was until race day. There were 1,000+ runners registered for the 4-miler. Most of the runners were from the local area with a few other cities mixed in.
I have never raced the 4-mile distance, so this was going to be a personal record (PR) regardless of how I performed. 😊 I didn’t enter the race with a preset time in mind but wanted to test my fitness in the South Florida heat and humidity safely. I posted up in the middle of the start corral to keep from being blocked my slower runners—mission accomplished.
The course was mostly flat, and I enjoyed that the most. I started the race with a controlled pace and wanted to maintain my form throughout. Unfun fact—it was HOT at 7:15 am and there was not a lot of shade for runners. Okay, enough complaining about the heat. My controlled pace turned out to be that I completed Mile #1 with a 10:00 minute pace. I slowed a bit on each subsequent mile, but I didn’t fall apart considering the conditions. I was able to find a smile on my face in the last mile because there were cameras and people everywhere. You never want spectators to think you’re not enjoying the pain of a hot race. 😊 Mile #4 went by at a 11:47 minute pace which was fine with me considering the temperature and humidity levels.
I crossed the finish line with a smile and newfound respect for summer racing. I collected my race medal, iced towel, water and headed over to the race village to cool down. There were a few vendors in the race village, but I made my way over to the table serving pancakes. I got my short stack and found a sit under a tree in the park to enjoy the moment. I noticed at this point that my run shorts, t-shirt and socks were completely soaked by my sweat. I’m sure I lost about 5 pounds by sweating this much. No worries, Jayla! I always go to get a large meal after my races and today was not different.
I made my way to First Watch after showering and cooling down. I got my traditional First Watch meal, the Trifecta with bacon, scrambled eggs, blueberry pancake, cheesy grits and coffee. Yep, this is my meal every time I visit a First Watch regardless of the location. 😊
My first visit to the Village of Tequesta ended with a quick visit to Publix to pick up items for me to grill later. It is the 4th of July and what better way to celebrate than some good BBQ prepared by me! 😊
Fun fact, I was the fastest runner from Fort Pierce for this 4-Miler! 😊
Happy 4th of July! America is 250!
How did you celebrate the 4th of July?
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Running is a mental sport, and we’re all insane.”
(Unknown)
Walk Into the Future 
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