We had to get up super early (for me anyway). I picked Tabitha up at her house at 630am. Chris and the kiddos didn't come along to this race; he stayed home and watched Tabitha's three kids as well. So, not only did Chris watch 5 kids, but it was his birthday. I owe him BIG time for it!
It took us about an hour to get there. Traffic was actually really good. Our biggest problem was finding the parking location. The directions said to go right, but as we found out later if we'd have gone left it was right there. We took a 15 minute shuttle ride over to the site, picked up our bibs (absolutely no line), and then stashed our stuff in their bag check (no line for that either). Visited the oh-so-disgusting porta-potties, then watched the half-marathoners leave. There were 3 waves of them! Over 725 people ran the half-marathon! It was pretty cool to watch all those people. Then an hour later the 10K left, and 15 minutes later we were lined up and off we went.
We were warned that it would be a muddy experience from all the rain we got on Friday. Even heard that they had a high drop-out of the ultra-marathon due to the conditions. We figured it couldn't be any worse then the Warrior Dash, right?! We started through a grassy section, went up a hill, across a parking lot and then hit a trail. I got so excited. I LOVE trail runs! I was running way faster then I should, or normally do, but I was having fun. I was passing people, jumping roots, and smiling the whole time. Then my shoe came untied. SIGH. I stopped and Tabitha stopped with me, tied it quickly, and off we went. We ended up crossing the parking lot again, a short trail, then circled back on the grassy section, saw the finish line, sped up, only to be diverted around it - UGH!
Yep, I wasted a lot of energy when I saw that finish line. We shot up this quick little hill and then I stumbled - shoe lace again. I stopped and Tabitha kept going. Double tied it this time. Ran around a soccer field - it was like jogging through a marsh. It was humid, wet, and hot. Turned the corner and saw other runners coming at us, got excited again because I thought we were almost done. I then saw Tabitha and she was close enough to catch, so I picked up the pace, and stumbled again. Yep, other shoelace. WTF! My shoelaces never come undone. That pretty much took the last of my energy. I half-heartedly ran the last leg, stomped through the big muddy section (reason for my muddy shoes), and sprinted across the finish line.
I was 75th overall for the 5k (out of 183...not a big showing). I was 16/45 for my age group, and 33/107 out of the overall females. It was a good race. I only wish we could've ran more "trail" portions. Running through a soccer field is not a trail. Through the trees, over roots, logs, and bridges all the while surrounded by trees - that's my type of trail! If I do this race again next year, it will be the 10k.
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