I competed in running races, triathlon, and duathlon until I ran out of money (became a grad student) in 2006. Now I do races when I can afford them. OK, I confess: I like to train way more than I like to race!
Not-so-shameless plugs for my teams and coach:
http://scendurance.blogspot.com
http://tricoachmartin.com
The profile pic is crossing the San Lorenzo river in the PCTR Santa Cruz Mountains 21K race Sept 2008. Best race ever... start time is after 8AM and I ride my bike ~1 miles to the start/finish. Second best: Sentinel triathlon. Early start time, but the transition area is ~800M from my front door.