CNN

Huckabee ran a 5K road race in Little Rock, Arkansas Wednesday.

(CNN) – Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee spent his 4th of July running for president. Literally.

The GOP White House hopeful and self-proclaimed health nut ran the Firecracker 5K road race in Little Rock, Arkansas Wednesday. Through the course of the 3.1 mile race, the 2008 election was never far from his mind since he was sporting bib number 8.

“Let’s hope it represents where I plan to be over the course of next year, focusing on '08 and the presidential election,” he said.

Huckabee also compared the presidential race to a foot race.

“Anything as long as a presidential race you really have to look at it not in terms of your burst of speed in any given day. You need to look at it in pacing towards the finish line,” he said. “Some of the candidates are already having to make cuts and pull back because they went out too fast. That is a mistake marathoners make and you have to say, ‘My race, my pace.’”

After crossing the finish line in a time of 27:36, Huckabee joked about the speed of the Kenyan runners.

“I wanted to give [the Kenyans] a little hospitality so I let them go ahead of me. I could have beat them, but I didn’t want to show off,” he said with sweat rolling down his forehead.

– CNN Assignment Editor Marissa Muller