A Last Minute 5k

 

   For those of you that don't know, Mark has been out of town in Watertown, NY doing some work for his company since the week before we ran our first marathon in September. He actually was only there 5 days before they flew him back home to run! He flew back home the morning after our race and we were apart 7 weeks and 3 days before he was able to come home for a few days again. Mark's company was only willing to fly him home 2 times during his 3 month tour of Watertown and his marathon counted as one. We put off his second visit so he would be home for Halloween. We wanted him to be able to make holiday memories with Addison, even if it meant we would be apart 2 months. 

  Finally, October 28th rolled around and Mark was due to get in at 9:15 that night. To pass the time while Addison was at school, I was surfing Facebook when a race director posed in one of my running groups that he had a large number of medals and shirts left over from his Halloween half marathon that had taken place the previous Saturday. He was thinking about throwing a 5k that coming Thursday for $15 and the finishers would get a medal, a shirt, and a BBQ. How could I resist? After finally getting word to Mark during his layover in Philadelphia, we decided to sign up for the race. Joshua was also on board. It was a running party!

   So Thrusday evening we met at a Foxboro North Regional Park, which just happens to join the Legacy Parkway Trail. We ran an out and back race that was not timed by the race officials. We did get bibs and was told the faster we got back, the better the medal and shirt we would get. Mark pushed Addison since I had had that pleasure for two months without him, and I decided since the trail is mostly flat, I would try to get as close to a sub-30 minute finish I could get. Joshua was going to push Reese, an assisted athlete, and whose goal was just to get some good pushing experience. Having pushed Addison in the jogger for 2 months, I knew I would probably be faster than him and decided to stay ahead of him during the run. A smart person would have tried to keep up with Mark knowing that he would lead me to a sub-30 finish for sure, but I am not always a smart person.

   I started out well, maybe even a little too slow. My first mile came in at 11:35. I needed to run a 10:00 pace to get close to a 30 minute finish, so I decided to pick up the pace. However, my legs were having none of it. I ended up trying to stretch them out a couple of times and when that didn't help, I fell in step with another runner who wanted to run with me. Tine had just ran the Big Cottonwood half and was trying to get back into running regularly post race. After talking a while she realized she recognized me from my marathon finish video that was making the rounds on Facebook. She was one of several people that night that recognized me. 

   I ended up finishing the race in 37:39 and with a new friend. Mark, being a speedy speeder finished far enough ahead of me to get Addison dressed in his new race shirt and them both back to the finish to have Addison run me to the end. It was the best way to finish a race.  

Tine and I at the finish. I love meeting new running friends!