Average Pace 0:00/mile
I'm sure you're all seeing that pace report above and going... WTF?! Well, don't get too worried. Even though I'm doing a race recap, this is for a race that I volunteered at - not ran. And honestly, I never actually planned to run this race. I knew I'd be of better assistance on the course rather than running the course.
And, so, that's the preface.
Let's get started.
At 5:30am on race day, my alarm went off. Again. And I was crabby. Again. Yes, I really need to work on being a better morning person. Regardless, for likely the first time ever, I actually HOPPED IN THE SHOWER and proceeded to pretty myself for race day.
I honestly don't think I've ever actually showered, dried my hair and got fully dressed in regular clothes for a race. I have to say, it felt a little strange.
Not that you could tell I made an effort on my appearance, though, because as soon as I set foot outside my beautiful hair was ruined in the first gust of wind. Fine, be like that Mother Nature.
Anyhow, off I went to volunteer at the Chaska 5K/10K race - at which I had figured I would help by working check in, possibly running a water stop or maybe even taking back timing chips at the end of the race.
But, NOPE!
I checked in at the volunteer table and... was given this:
OMG. I was assigned to be an on course "medic". In a fabulous race T, of course. (Yep, that's the shirt all runners and volunteers got. It's pretty cute. Or, at least I liked it. If you didn't, tough noogies).
Apparently, because I am CPR certified, I was given the honor of being on mile 2 of the 10K course... right at the top of the worst hill in the entire 5K/10K course. Lucky me.
All geared up, I drove my car over to my watch point and silently prayed that this would not be the day I finally put my CPR training to use. That, and I texted my sister the good news about being a first aid resource.
She responds in kind by asking if I dressed for the event. "Are you wearing a little nurse's hat??!! LOL!"
Dang! Had I only known a few days in advance.
(My husband later pointed out that the race coordinator very likely didn't tell me I'd be offering first aid just for that purpose, being that she knows my reputation for costuming. She's on to me now...)
The race appears to have started more or less on time, because about 15 or so minutes past 8, or what equated to a few rounds of texting with my sister, the first few runners came though. And they made it look like it was going to be easy to take home the first place finisher loot.
Which was amazing, by the way. Look at those awesome prizes!
With nothing better to do as the first few folks came through, I started counting runners. Three, four, five... eight, nine... NINE men were in the lead before the first girl came through. GAH! Guys suck. Why can they run so fast?!
And, apparently the hill I was at the top of sucked, too. I received many dirty looks, glares and curses while I stood and watched. Comments ranged from the simple "WOW!" to the complex "So, I'm guessing this is one of the 'challenging' hills that was mentioned in the course description?" I think one person was even crying and wiping their eyes with a tissue because it was so hard... or that could have been allergies, I dunno.
Every so often, someone I knew from the run group would wander by, and I would cheer for them. This is YOUR RACE, Josh! Go on with your bad self, Dawn! WHOOO - go Kelly!
And then, as quickly as they started flowing by, they stopped. The last runner went by, and that was it! Not even 8:40 and my job was done... well, the first one at least. I picked up the cones and directional sign, drove back to the start line, and prepared for round two - which was to be at a safety check point for the kids race (we had folks stationed every so many yards on course to make sure kids didn't stray off the path and get lost).
Lucky for me, my second station was actually along the final stretch of the 5K/10K as well, so I got the best of both worlds. I saw the runners start the race, and I saw them on the way to the finish. Since I didn't have much in the way of new cheer ideas, I recycled. This is YOUR RACE, Josh! Go on with your bad self, Dawn! WHOOO - go Kelly!
The last few runners trickled by, and then... the madness began.
Lead by a golf cart, a swarm of what appeared to be easily 150 kids started sprinting full speed towards me.
Have I ever told you how funny kid runs are? They just are so... funny. I mean, where else will you see a heard of people with a stride less than 2' long running willy-nilly around town, with the occasional straggler who decides to cry, skip, sing or even literally stop and smell the roses? I'm not kidding, one of the kids on course actually stopped somewhere around the half way point to pick flowers. But don't worry, she made up lost time by sprinting all the way back... with flowers in tow.
As the kids ran by, I cheered, clapped, and smiled. You would have thought I was tossing out $100 bills based on some of the responses I got from the kids. They were SO proud to be running, and that I was cheering for THEM. Priceless.
Eventually, again, the last few came through. After they got about 1/10 of a mile down the way from me, I decided to get a little running in myself. I slowly ran back to the finish area, maybe a whopping 0.25 miles down the road. All the while, I snickered at a dad "helping" along a struggling young girl who definitely did NOT want to be there. Kids.
By this time, the finish area was chaos as kids tried to find their post race treats first, and parents second. To remain helpful, I snuck inside and started sorting out race chips and putting them back in order.
Eventually, things wound down, and I packed out. It was a successful race day indeed!
But the story doesn't end there.
Remember how I cheered some folks on twice?
Shortly after finishing, a friend at the gym (and also one of the zumba instructors) posted this status:
I was thrilled. But even more so when this happened:
And then, I almost peed myself when this happened:
I have the best gym buddies a girl can ask for.
And that's the story of how NO RACE BIB joined my collection, but I had a great time anyway. Here's to another race soon... maybe in another month or so!
And, so, that's the preface.
Let's get started.
At 5:30am on race day, my alarm went off. Again. And I was crabby. Again. Yes, I really need to work on being a better morning person. Regardless, for likely the first time ever, I actually HOPPED IN THE SHOWER and proceeded to pretty myself for race day.
I honestly don't think I've ever actually showered, dried my hair and got fully dressed in regular clothes for a race. I have to say, it felt a little strange.
Not that you could tell I made an effort on my appearance, though, because as soon as I set foot outside my beautiful hair was ruined in the first gust of wind. Fine, be like that Mother Nature.
Anyhow, off I went to volunteer at the Chaska 5K/10K race - at which I had figured I would help by working check in, possibly running a water stop or maybe even taking back timing chips at the end of the race.
But, NOPE!
I checked in at the volunteer table and... was given this:
OMG. I was assigned to be an on course "medic". In a fabulous race T, of course. (Yep, that's the shirt all runners and volunteers got. It's pretty cute. Or, at least I liked it. If you didn't, tough noogies).
Apparently, because I am CPR certified, I was given the honor of being on mile 2 of the 10K course... right at the top of the worst hill in the entire 5K/10K course. Lucky me.
All geared up, I drove my car over to my watch point and silently prayed that this would not be the day I finally put my CPR training to use. That, and I texted my sister the good news about being a first aid resource.
She responds in kind by asking if I dressed for the event. "Are you wearing a little nurse's hat??!! LOL!"
Dang! Had I only known a few days in advance.
(My husband later pointed out that the race coordinator very likely didn't tell me I'd be offering first aid just for that purpose, being that she knows my reputation for costuming. She's on to me now...)
The race appears to have started more or less on time, because about 15 or so minutes past 8, or what equated to a few rounds of texting with my sister, the first few runners came though. And they made it look like it was going to be easy to take home the first place finisher loot.
Which was amazing, by the way. Look at those awesome prizes!
Chaska 10K/5K Overall Winner Prize Baskets:
Chaska 10K/5K Medal
Home crafted RUN pillow
$50 gift card TC Running
CCC water bottle and socks
Chaska 10K/5K Medal
Home crafted RUN pillow
$50 gift card TC Running
CCC water bottle and socks
With nothing better to do as the first few folks came through, I started counting runners. Three, four, five... eight, nine... NINE men were in the lead before the first girl came through. GAH! Guys suck. Why can they run so fast?!
And, apparently the hill I was at the top of sucked, too. I received many dirty looks, glares and curses while I stood and watched. Comments ranged from the simple "WOW!" to the complex "So, I'm guessing this is one of the 'challenging' hills that was mentioned in the course description?" I think one person was even crying and wiping their eyes with a tissue because it was so hard... or that could have been allergies, I dunno.
Every so often, someone I knew from the run group would wander by, and I would cheer for them. This is YOUR RACE, Josh! Go on with your bad self, Dawn! WHOOO - go Kelly!
And then, as quickly as they started flowing by, they stopped. The last runner went by, and that was it! Not even 8:40 and my job was done... well, the first one at least. I picked up the cones and directional sign, drove back to the start line, and prepared for round two - which was to be at a safety check point for the kids race (we had folks stationed every so many yards on course to make sure kids didn't stray off the path and get lost).
Lucky for me, my second station was actually along the final stretch of the 5K/10K as well, so I got the best of both worlds. I saw the runners start the race, and I saw them on the way to the finish. Since I didn't have much in the way of new cheer ideas, I recycled. This is YOUR RACE, Josh! Go on with your bad self, Dawn! WHOOO - go Kelly!
The last few runners trickled by, and then... the madness began.
Lead by a golf cart, a swarm of what appeared to be easily 150 kids started sprinting full speed towards me.
Have I ever told you how funny kid runs are? They just are so... funny. I mean, where else will you see a heard of people with a stride less than 2' long running willy-nilly around town, with the occasional straggler who decides to cry, skip, sing or even literally stop and smell the roses? I'm not kidding, one of the kids on course actually stopped somewhere around the half way point to pick flowers. But don't worry, she made up lost time by sprinting all the way back... with flowers in tow.
As the kids ran by, I cheered, clapped, and smiled. You would have thought I was tossing out $100 bills based on some of the responses I got from the kids. They were SO proud to be running, and that I was cheering for THEM. Priceless.
Eventually, again, the last few came through. After they got about 1/10 of a mile down the way from me, I decided to get a little running in myself. I slowly ran back to the finish area, maybe a whopping 0.25 miles down the road. All the while, I snickered at a dad "helping" along a struggling young girl who definitely did NOT want to be there. Kids.
By this time, the finish area was chaos as kids tried to find their post race treats first, and parents second. To remain helpful, I snuck inside and started sorting out race chips and putting them back in order.
Eventually, things wound down, and I packed out. It was a successful race day indeed!
But the story doesn't end there.
Remember how I cheered some folks on twice?
Shortly after finishing, a friend at the gym (and also one of the zumba instructors) posted this status:
I was thrilled. But even more so when this happened:
Followed up by this:
And then, I almost peed myself when this happened:
I have the best gym buddies a girl can ask for.
And that's the story of how NO RACE BIB joined my collection, but I had a great time anyway. Here's to another race soon... maybe in another month or so!
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