Over the course of 8 races, a runner's finishing time was 5 seconds faster each race than the race prior. if her combined total for all 8 races was 44: 20, what was her finishing time for the second race?

X+(x-5) +(x-10) ...
This adds up to 8x -140 seconds where x is the 1st race time.
This adds up to 44:20 minutes
44mins * 60 sec/min = 2640 seconds + 20 = 2660 seconds cummulative
8x - 140 = 2660  8x =2800 sec
8x = 350 seconds or 4.5mins  for the 1st race
Race 2: subtract 5 seconds yields 4 mins 25 seconds