A Run to Remember

Today was just an all-around good day, and a day that reminded me why I love running so much. My brother, Anthony, crashed at my house last night and this morning we got up early to go to a race in Northampton called “A Run to Remember.” It was a local fund-raising 5K (actually turned out to be 3.3 miles) that I signed up for last month. I was excited because 3 of my friends from work (Vicky, Val, and Kathy) also signed up for the race and this was going to be the first time that I had run with any of them. I had intended to use my new double stroller for this race and run with both the girls, but my eBay seller turned out to be a lying deadbeat and she sold the stroller out from under me AFTER I had won and paid for it. Instead, since McKenna was in the stroller for my last race, I took Aubrey with me this time. McKenna stayed behind with my brother.
As far as a quick race report - it was a little disorganized and weird. There were no mile markers throughout the course so I couldn’t do my splits, but they had a massage table set up. I thought that was a little odd for just a 5K. There were no swag bags, and the shirt was decidedly NOT unisex. It’s pastel and purple and now belongs to my wife. In the end, who cares, it’s for a good cause and I was happy to pony up the entrance fee. Plus nobody really runs for the t-shirt and snack bars anyway. The course itself was pretty flat. I can only recall one real hill, and it wasn’t that long.
Vicky, Val, and Kathy all did well. They finished strong and with smiles on their faces. Val and Kathy are also doing the Mud Hog Trail Race with me in August, and running with them today made me look forward to that even more. Let the trash talking continue.
I did well in today’s race. With the stroller I still was able to finish in 25:38 (a 7:46 pace). That was good enough to take to second place for my age division. First place was only 15 seconds ahead of me. I know if I ran without the stroller today, I would have smoked him, but I had more fun playing with Aubrey and dodging all the potholes.
After the race, we headed over to Fitzwilly’s for a celebratory lunch and a well deserved pint of Guinness. I love running with friends!!!
Below are some pix from the race (thanks Anthony for playing photographer).