63 degrees | wind 5 MPH

I hadn't planned on running this race, but a co-worker injured his knee and offered to transfer his entry to me (approved by the race director) so I said okay. This race marks the start of the racing season in SE Minnesota, and serves as a large fundraiser for cancer research. The schools in the town where the race is held get really involved, so a lot of people show up to run and walk the 8K and the mile.

The race site was a zoo when my husband and I arrived. We were able to find a parking space a few blocks away from the high school, and we headed there to find the packet pickup. There was a slight confusion with my entry, as they still had it under Jerry's name. But I was able to talk to someone in charge who got everything switched over which was good because I didn't really want to race in the 30-35 male category!

It had taken a little longer to get to the race and get my packet, so I didn't have as much time as I wanted for a warm-up. I ran an easy half-mile and then changed into my race flats and attached my chip (this race was using the ankle strap chips, which was new to me). I got some stretching done, and then changed into my singlet. I wouldn't normally expect to be racing in shorts/singlet in MN in April, but with temperatures in the 60s anything else would be too much (I would normally expect it to be in the 30s).

Apparently the warm weather and bright sunny day brought a lot of people out. The race director had told Jerry that warm temperatures did bring out the "fair weather runners" and that proved true, as they had close to 1000 race day entries! The result to me was that the start line was really congested. Since they were starting the mile and 8K at the same time, and there were a lot of little kids in the mile, I tried to get fairly close to the start. I knew I was still going to get blocked in, but I didn't think it would be right to get any closer than I was.

1: I was right about the start, as I had to dodge tons of little kids. The problem with such a large start where people don't seed themselves correctly is that it's hard for me to judge where I should be. As a result, I ended up running the first mile a little too fast (7:03).

2: They had water around the mile mark, which I skipped. I like to get water with my right hand, and this stop was set up on the left. I also figured I'd be okay to skip it. There was a decent sized hill around 1.5 miles. I tried to run hard up the hill, but overall felt myself fading somewhat.

3-4: There was a water stop at 2.5 miles (the turnaround) and I think I took some water there. My throat was started to feel pretty dry from the heat. There wasn't a 3 mile mark, which kind of confused me as I wanted another pace check. I had a feeling I should've been running harder, but the heat was kind of getting to me. (The change from cold to hot is always difficult for me until I acclimate). Because of the turnaround, I was able to count the women in the race. I managed to pass one woman before the end of mile 4, I think, putting me in 15th.

0.97: There was another water stop around mile 4, which was pretty welcome. Normally I'd skip water so close to the end, but I needed it. I tried to pick up my pace some over this almost-mile. The difficult thing for me was that the finish line was at the top of an incline. I gained some ground on another woman, but not enough.

Luckily, they had water bottles at the finish. I ran a cool-down and then headed up near the school to stretch. After stretching, we went inside to check out the post-race food. I was a little disappointed: potato chips, soda, milk and ice cream. (There had also been fig newtons at the finish line). The ice cream cups were nice, but I would've liked some fruit and sports drink. My husband said I lucked out with getting water at the finish, though, apparently while I was running my cool-down they ran out and were using a hose. Normally, I'd think that running out of water was pretty bad (they also ran out of cups on the course), but 1000 race day entries isn't really something you can plan for.

The awards presentation started off with a speaker: Carrie Tollefson, who is from Minnesota and ran in the Olympics last summer. She talked about her year and goal setting, and then took questions from the audience. Afterwards, they started recognizing the people who raised the most money (you could collect pledges) and had the most sponsors. After that, they moved onto the awards.

I ended up taking 2nd in my age group, after they took out the top 10 women overall (who got separate awards). After collecting my medal, I went to stand in Carrie's autograph line. She seemed really nice and down-to-earth, and even agreed to sign an autograph for Jerry with an inside joke from work.

Overall, a nice event. I'm not sure if I'll run it next year, as it was a little too congested for me. I did enjoy getting to hear an Olympian speak, and to meet her, as that isn't an everyday occurence! The only thing that would've made the day better is if I had run faster, but I think coming off of being sick I did what I could.

Splits
1.0 - 07:03
2.0 - 07:35 | 14:38
4.0 - 14:53 | 29:31 (no 3 mile mark)
.97 - 07:05 | 36:36
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8K | 36:36 | 7:22/mi.

2nd 25-29F
15th Female