We bundled up the little ones and headed to the Boardwalk
There were so many people! I couldn't believe it. When I saw Chris on Wednesday, he told me that there were about 300 registered. It ended up that there were 540 runners! That's amazing, especially since this is the first year for the event. It could end up being huge. Here is a pre-race photo of some of the group.
The down side of 540 runners is that they were not prepared for that many people to pick up packets the morning of the race...the start time was delayed by about 15 minutes. That gave me just enough time to get warmed up, cool down, warm up, cool down. Ugh...but of course being who I am, I was trying to encourage everyone to do their best. Here is a funny photo that I swiped from Lisa's Facebook page. The photo really is supposed to be of Ross but you can see me at the edge of the picture already cheering like a fool. Let's call it pre-race enthusiasm.
Finally the bagpipes played, the leprechaun started the race and we were off. I have recently stopped getting in the back of the pack for the start of a race. I always get annoyed at how many walkers and joggers start towards the front. So I made sure that Colleen, Ryann and I found a spot in the front 1/4 of the pack. Still I was dodging slower runners and kids who were sprinting then stopping. The first quarter mile of the race is really frustrating for me and just a total battle for position. I finally got into a comfortable pack with people who were running around the same pace as I wanted to run.
I felt great hitting Mile 1. I was running exactly where I wanted to be - 8:45 pace and at some points, I was able to speed up the pace for a little bit. When I crossed the Mile 2 point, I was thinking about conserving energy for the finishing effort. I still averaged around 8:45 but was having difficulty maintaining anything resembling a steady pace. I felt like I was all over the place. Here is a picture of me mid-race.
When I hit the final turn, there was about 3/4 of a mile left. It was all I could do to keep the same pace. I felt like I couldn't accelerate at all. I saw the finish balloons and wanted to start my finishing stride but I couldn't. I had no gas left. At that exact moment, Lisa saw me and ran with me for the last little bit. She helped me to pick it up enough to finish with a time of 26:59 showing on my watch! I had really wanted to break 27 in this race so I was very pleased. (note - the results were posted and my chip time is 20 seconds slower than my watch. I'm going with my watch.)
Of course by the time we were driving home, I was already analyzing the race in my head and trying to figure out how I could have gone faster. As I told Colleen, there is something wrong with me! Speaking of Colleen, here she is running a GREAT time and smashing her goal of beating 29 minutes.
Ryann also ran the race. She did a great job. Daina ran the final leg of the race with Ryann, and Ryann said that without Daina's help, she probably would have walked a little bit. So a big thank you to Daina! Sorry that she is cut off a little bit in this photo.
I'm so proud of everyone who ran this race. It was several people's first 5K including Tammie, Rachael (who I work with at the restaurant) and I think it was Sandra's mom's first race also. Congrats to everyone and I can't wait for the next race!
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