Thanksgiving 5mi Run Thru the Woods

It was a chilly morning in Texas on Thanksgiving. We got up early to head to the event as I had been able to pick up two of the race packets needed. Registering my 2 year old for the Kid's 1 mile event was a last minute decision. The 6 year old was primed and ready for his 1 mile, as I was for the 5 mile.

Over 5,000 people had registered for the run and walk. The first event was the kids' race and I barely had enough time to walk around the traffic island with the stroller and our cold weather gear to the finish line before the first runners were returning. Wow! Some of these kids were fast!! The 6 year old finished with an awesome time of 11.34 min. This was his first "race" ever. If I was to ask him what he would put in his race report he would probably say "I ran really really fast, then got puffed and sat down for a while. Then I saw some kids I knew from school and we ran to the finish line together!" His conclusion would be "The medal is really cool and I loved the pancake breakfast afterwards!"

The coordinators had started calling for the 5 mile runners to start lining up and I was still standing at the finish line wondering where my husband and the 2 year old were. The finish line photographers had long gone and I was starting to get worried. I was worried that something had happened to them. I was also concerned that I was going to miss the start of the 5 mile race – there were still some competitors on the track and it looked like they were going ahead with the start. I started stripping down the layers in preparation for a quick transition from the finish line around to the starting line. Just as I was thinking that I would have to throw in the towel, the 2 year old rounded the corner being carried by dad. He saw me at the finish line and got down and ran / walked it in to finish in a respectable 24 min!! (Apparently he was having fun on the course and then took a tumble. Getting a bit sooky, dad had to carry him for most of the way)

I didn't waste a second. After ensuring that dad and the kids were reunited I took off to make it to the start line (the final call had already been made). I ducked under some barricades and took a bit of an illegal short cut through some brush to end up in the starting line mix - just in time for the Star Spangled Banner. Excellent!

Mile 1 – 8.34

Mile 2 – 8.01

Mile 3 – 8.32

Mile 4 – 8.43

Mile 5 – not sure of lap time (watch malfunction), overall chip time 43.34 min

It was an awesome race. It also was an awesome time for me – PR!! I tried hard to keep it slow and steady in the first mile and then to sustain the 8.30 pace. I lost that a bit in the final mile as we headed up and over the Interstate (hills, ahhhh). Picked up the pace in the final quarter of the mile, but it just wasn't enough to get it down below the 43 minute mark. Overall I placed 863^rd, and was 26^th (out of 162) in my age group!

We went home and everyone except for me headed to bed for a nap… tidied the house, prepped the veggies and cooked the turkey! It was an awesome Thanksgiving!