On Halloween morning, I got up and turned into Robin Hood…

I modified the costume that I wore to work on Friday for my race. I swapped my buckled boots for brown and black fur topped leg-warmers with my nikes, and added extra pins to my green pointy hat.

I arrived at the race extra early because I needed to register on site. I was the first person to arrive in costume (there were only 5 people there anyway), but I got a few looks. The 5k was beginning at a park in my town, and it was just so cute. The decorations looked decidedly hand strewn, but perfect. The goodie bag was well stocked, and the volunteers were exceptionally friendly. It was about 47 degrees when I arrived, so I stayed scarved and walked around for a bit in the calm, quiet darkness. It was surprisingly still and beautiful. I was grateful for a quiet moment…

…a quiet moment that was interrupted by an overwhelming urge to pee. Now, I’m a shyyyyyyyy bathroomer-very shy. But knowing that I was a quarter mile away from the registration table, and that it was super dark, and that I couldn’t find a restroom in the unlit park anywhere, and that there were no more than 10 people there at the moment, I found bravery I hadn’t expected. I found a tree at the farthest part of the park and a tree that was 3 feet wide, and yes. I peed. I know, I know… my bravery knows no bounds.

As light spread and more people arrived, I realized that there would not be too many people there… a few hundred at most, and that I was HIGHLY costumed as compared to these runners. There were lots of kids from a local school, as well as their teachers, and several track teams too.

When it came time to head to the starting line, I took my proper place near the back (though the starting line was on a sidewalk, so it wasn’t like being 50 yards from the start) and waited for the “go”.

As we started running, I immediately set to working on keeping my pace MY PACE. I’ve gotten used to people passing me, and learned pretty effectively how to not let fast runners get me down. I plodded along, pretty aware that it had been 2 weeks and some change since I’d last run, and just knew that I’d have to do my best.

About 3 minutes in, a woman fell into a stride beside me. She took off her headphones, and asked if I’d mind if she ran by me. She said that she was afraid to look back and see that she was the last runner. She wasn’t totally sure that she’d be able to run it, as the distance was new for her, and she didn’t feel totally confident that she’d knock it out of the park. Instantly, I knew that this race was NOT about my time. It was about her. I just felt it in my bones that I was gonna run with this woman and that we’d finish together.

I didn’t know that the route was not all on a hard surface, more than half of the course was on grass, and another portion was through very wet and muddy wooded areas with puddles 4 inches deep. I was not prepared for that. We kept trudging through, and ran over 1.6 miles before taking our first 30 second walk break!

I learned that this woman is also a teacher, and that we work in the same area. She was sweet, funny, and quite possibly my PERFECT running partner. We knew when to push each other, we knew that if we needed a 30 second break we could have one, and we knew when to talk and when to stay quiet. Her name was Kelly, and as we approached the final half mile, we challenged each other and said, “after this break, we make the last half mile with NO stops”. We had talked previously about separating if necessary for a sprint to the finish, and I expected I might.

By this point my knees were aching and I was really, really ready to finish the blasted thing, but I was sure we’d finish strong. Suddenly, about 100 yards away, I started to want to die. I didn’t want to sprint, didn’t have the strength, I wanted to WALK to the finish line with all my heart. Then I looked over and saw Kelly’s stride falling EXACTLY with mine, and listened to hear her breaths exhaling EXACTLY with mine, and I wanted to finish for her… with her.

It was surprisingly special, and we finished with a respectable 38:27 for the 3.35 mile course (I’m not sure why it can’t ever be a true 5k!?), which is, by a few seconds my new 5k race (official time) PR!

Oh, but one more thing, I won second place!!

…For my costume, silly!! I’ll proudly display my ribbon knowing that it is a reminder of a WONDERFUL race.

FYI, I wrapped up my run with a chunk of banana, some fruit gummies, and a coconut water.

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Results and Pictures

*as usual, google readers may have to visit site to see all pictures*

BIB 401
AGE 26
RANK NA
TIME 38:27
DISTANCE:3.35
PACE 11:28/M

I know that was long, thanks for reading!