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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

5K Finish

The evening was nice: breezy and cool, which was perfect for a run. My husband and I arrived early so I could register and so we could both meet up with friends. It was a big race. Much bigger than I anticipated, and before the start gun went off, the announcer said that over 5300 participants had shown up: that's quite the turn out for a 5K (maybe everyone was hoping to win the raffle for the Mercedes -- I know I was crossing my fingers).
Below are my comrades for the run: Jon and Ryan -- both work with my husband (the non-runner/picture taker for me). I lined up with them before the race, and the 3 of us had to push, claw, and trip over the walkers that crowded the front of the start line (ridiculous -- they need two starts for this race because the first tenth of a mile was chaotic). After the start, I lost track of my two friends and was on my own.
Despite being somewhat montonous (the race doubled back on itself twice), it was a fun run. My knee gave me minimal issues and I finished in reasonable time (not my best, but considering the infrequent training and knee trouble, it was alright). There were no timing chips and many doubts about the accuracy of the "official" clock (one guy said it was 2 minutes off, my friends reported about a 30 second delay), but my time on the finish clock was 31 minutes (there I am below in the orange shorts just about to cross the finish line; I did not win the Mercedes, dang). Definitely not a PR, but like I said, not too shabby (I beat those two boys).
Afterward, we all went out for beers and bar food (mmmm, delicious), and we just returned home -- just in time for "Lost." It was a fun night and a fun run.

12 comments:

miss petite america said...

your stride is sooooo long!! whenever i get pictures back of me running it always looks like i'mm just standing still swinging my arms.

and way to kick some ass!

MNFirefly said...

Nice race, Jess. Great pictures!

Anonymous said...

yeah, yeah, yeah, you are great, blah, blah, blah. However, they do not announce the winner of the Benz until after Miami, and West Palm Corporate run. Theres still a chance....

Bri said...

Good run. Have you considered listening to Steve Runner's Phedippidations (www.steverunner.com) especially the one on "Pain in the Knee".

Junie B said...

I swear to God the walkers that line up where they shouldnt is going to cause a riot one day!!!

way to go Jess!!!!!!!!!!!

Erin said...

Glad you knee wasn't giving you trouble. I wish I would have trained a little and ran with you but it is best that I didn't. I like being able to walk upright without pain. :)

Way to beat the boys!

Crash Landon said...

We walkers have every right to be there...just as much as you do....fascist elite runners.....go run a real race.

Triseverance said...

How do you get your mouth to do that. That picture cracks me up. Nice run and I am glad the knee felt good. :-)

Jess said...

"Crash": I'm not denying that walkers have every right to be there; but walkers will be slower than runners, so I think they should position themselves in the back. Plus, my comment was aimed more at the organizers of the race than the walkers.

teacherwoman said...

Now that is my kind of post-race dinner! Beer and bar food! Mmm.. might have to try that sometime! Nice job Jess!

brunettechicagogal said...

Nice action shot! Having fun is what's most important, methinks.

Iron Jayhawk said...

Look at that sexy stride. WOO!

Great job!!!!!!!!!