I love races. Yes - even that miserable 'thon that I just finished. I just love races. This one was really fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
First of all, it was free. Score!
Second, there was a kids 1K. If I had known that, I would have tried harder to get the boys up. Even though they wanted to do the race with me (in the jogger), they slept in and missed it. Turns out, with the late start, I could have waited an hour and still made it in time for the race. I would complain about the late start, but really? The race was free. Who cares that the race director took all of the registration stuff with him when he went to mark the course? Anyway, the kids 1K was adorable, and the boys are totally going to do it next year.
Third, the race director was just fun. Fun, fun, fun - even though his entire house was decked out in BYU crap. He had words of encouragement for everyone via his mini-bullhorn. Especially great was him yelling for the kids in the 1K and the 5K. Things like "I'm so proud of you!" and "You're awesome!" and "You are the greatest!" He was really awesome.
Fourth, the course was easy. Completely flat, and well marked with posterboard signs taped to lawn chairs at the intersections. Even a water stop at the halfway point.
Fifth, I ran without a walk break the entire time, and I managed to keep a very consistent pace from the beginning. By doing this, I passed a lot of people who had gone out too fast. There was one boy and his mom, however, that really gave me a hard time. He was probably 12, and his mom was right behind him, gently encouraging him along. At some point, she said "this lady is pushing me, so I'm pushing you. Don't let her beat us!" I turned to her and said "Don't worry!" He was really keeping a great pace. Unfortunately, he had an asthma attack (or something like it) about 1/2 block later. The mom felt horrible and seemed to blame herself afterwards. I congratulated him after he finished, but he wasn't very happy.
Sixth, with about a block to go, I passed a pretty fit guy who was just walking. He then decided to run again. This was probably a cool-down after a 10-miler for him, because he could have readily kicked my can at any time. Instead, he ran right beside me the entire time, pushing me on with stuff like "Come on, you can do it. You're almost there. Just to the mailbox. Make it a race!" etc. I probably would have still PRd, but without him, my pace would have slowed in the last 300 yards.
Stats: 3.1 miles in 29:12 for a 9:26mpm pace
I placed 5th in my age group. I had to leave before all of the results, so I don't know how many were in my age group, but I was happy with the PR!
YAY!
My friend and co-worker, Leslie, has just started running this year. She placed 3rd in her age group (51-60) and took home a ribbon. I was really excited for her. She is doing really good for a beginner! Here's a picture of us at the finish line. (I really need to learn to aim my phone camera better!)
As a side note, my longest weekly mileage since the June 11 'thon has been 15.7 miles. Pathetic. Time to change that!
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