Runaway Bride!

The line for the bathroom was so long I barely got to the starting line in time. I normally try and have that all taken care of beforehand but this was an early race, starting at 9am. I require much caffeinated fortification by means of coffee to do anything before 10am. So I stood in line with fairies, cats, bees, etc., to use the facilities, which meant there was no time for a photo-op beforehand to get photos with the bride. The runaway bride ran away at the 5k/10k course split so she finished before me and promptly ran away again at the finish for wedding preparations. It was fun running all together at the start. Jeri's sister Janelle ran with us as well as Pat's sister Darcy (now Jeri's sister in law!) They all did the 5k so when we got to the split in the course I took off for the 10k and picked up the pace. There is immense satisfaction in passing a lot of people. This is a new experience for me and I will relish in all of my glorious roadkills. First mile running with the group was 10:30, the next 5 I averaged 9's. Perhaps it helped that I'd thought I was going to be running with the group the whole way so I did not bring my iPod. So, much like the Homer triathlon, I had only my footfalls and breathing to listen to for the rest of the run. I think it helped me focus on my breathing and getting into a good rhythm. It also probably didn't hurt to have people to catch up to and pass.

I felt good for the run. Legs were doing good, lungs were ok, but I now have blisters. My Nike's may not be the super shoe I'd hoped they would be. But they looked so good with my dress.


Arms Glo...Arms!! T-rex arms do not help!

I finished in approx 58 minutes. Official results have yet to be posted.

Since there was no one at the finish for me I thought, "why stick around? I've got nothing else to do today until the wedding"...so I jogged back down the trail until I caught up with Pastor Julia and Kate who were walking; Pastor Julia with 30+ lbs of Daniel on her back. I caught up with them after about a mile and a half and they proudly reported they were the red lanterns for the race. I had a great walk with them back to the finish.

I got to run/walk with friends, I got to dress up in a costume which I love, and I had a kick ass time for me. I think I can safely say it was a success. If that wasn't enough for the day, I topped it off by attending a beautiful wedding and a very fun party. Congratulations Pat and Jeri!