Race Report: Betterton 5K and Kiddie K

The first Saturday in August is always Betterton Day, and it's a big deal for my family.  This year, for the very first time, they decided to have a 5K race to start the day. Genius!!! I was probably one of the first to sign up...I was so excited.  Then I learned that they were having a Kiddie K to go along with it.  I've written about the little ones and how excited they were to do the Kiddie K with their team uniforms.

So I had to wake everyone up in time to get dressed and go to the race.  The little ones weren't quite as enthusiastic about the race when they are being woken up earlier than they wanted to get up!  But the girls got their team uniforms on and we took my nephew Nathan along too. 

We drove up to the fire station and parked in the field.  It didn't look like too many people were there even though I had heard that close to 75 had registered.  I think the threat of rain was keeping many away.  I got my race bib pinned to my shirt and got the girls to the bathroom for a last minute "check". 

The Kiddie K started at the end of the street and ended near where the 5K finish line was.  I don't think it was even 100 meters, but that was perfect.  5 kids lined up at the starting line.  I walked Ella, Grace and Nathan to the start and stood behind them as the race director called out "on your marks, get set, go". 

They all took off, but it was Ella who took the lead immediately.  My girl was flying!  She looked like a natural runner. 

Nathan wasn't far behind Ella and Grace was right behind him.  (And yes, that's me jogging in the back as I'm yelling good job to the girls!)  They swept it...Ella was 1st, Nathan got 2nd and Gracie came in 3rd!  Can you guess who the biggest ham is in this bunch?

So after that fun, we lined up for the actual 5K.  My cousin's brother-in-law, Justin, is a big time runner and really fast.  I asked him if he was ready to win this thing.  He smiled and said "we'll see".  Well, we saw...he smoked the field winning by SEVERAL minutes over the next closest runner.  Here is Justin coming back from the first out and back.  He was only a little more than 3/4 mile into the race and look how much of a lead he already had on the next guy!

At the start of the race, I felt good and went out too fast (like I always do).  However, this time I looked down at my Garmin about a 1/4 mile into the race, saw that I was running WAY too fast and slowed it down.  I was immediately passed by a pack of people, which was hard for my competitive head to accept, but it was the right thing to do.  I am not in the mode of running fast 5K's anymore...although my fast was never really fast.  I'm much more about endurance events, so I was not going to do anything stupid for this 5K just out of pride.

I focused on enjoying this event.  The course started with an out and back loop where we got a good look at the rest of the runners.  Then we ran down Ericsson St to the big hill that heads to the beach.  I saw Amy standing at the end of Idlewhile Ave.  She cheered me on and I told her to watch for Justin who was killing everyone already.  Actually Justin passed me right around the beach going the opposite direction.  I was not even half way and he was about a half mile from finishing!

The course took us up the hill on the other side of the beach, looped around by our house where Mom, Ryann, Ryann's friend Molly and the neighbors were cheering for us.  Shelley had also set up the official water station right there, so I walked long enough to get some water and make some jokes.  Then I took off running again.  I waved to Dad and my Aunt Candi (the mayor) who were in front of the Town Hall.  I really did have my own cheering section at several points in the race.  Very cool.

The worst part of the run was going back up the Ericsson hill.  It was painful and I walked for a few steps.  But then I reminded myself that there was less than a mile to go, so I pushed myself to run the rest of the way up the hill.  I increased my pace as I came to the top of the hill and ran out Ericsson.  I could see my family at the end of the street.  My cousin and her husband had made a sign for me...my first sign!  So very cool!  

As I passed them and rounded the corner, I only had the finishing stride.  I got a smile on my face and gave it my all.  I wanted to make sure that no one passed me at the finish.  I knew it wasn't my best 5K ever, but it was a fun event.

By now it was raining, which felt really good to me.  I tried to jog a little bit to shake out my legs and cool down.  I hit the bathroom and grabbed a banana.  Stephen took the kids back to the house since it was raining but I wanted to stick around for the awards ceremony and cheer for Justin.  I told him I would walk/run back to the house.

I'm so glad that I stayed for the awards ceremony, because I got third in my age group!!  I got a really cool plaque.  Plus I got to chat with Justin and his wife Carly.  They are expecting their first child in October.  Justin asked her who would push the stroller in next year's race.  I told him that he could probably still win the race pushing the stroller!  He laughed but I think he was in agreement with me.

All in all, considering it was the first time they had ever done this race, I think it was a good one.  They had enough seriousness for the "real" runners and enough fun stuff thrown in for the rest of us.  I am already looking forward to next year's race!