Saturday, March 21, 2009

You have GOT to read this...

So...if I told you I was 60 would you believe me??? Keep that question in mind....

The Operation Homefront 5K run for the troops....Race Report...Extravaganza..Disaster..Triumph...Victory....Defeat...

Those are the words that describe todays race..sounds interesting right? Keep reading!

I woke up multiple times in the middle of the night wanting to forfeit the race..I was exhausted...sore from all the weeks workouts...sleep just sounded sooo much better!

Despite all odds...I pulled my butt out of bed (with a little help from the bursting bladder)...and figured if I was up to go to the bathroom...I might as well be up to run a 5k! Easy enough right?

Driving there made me realize right away a sub 25 would not happen. My car was complaining to me about the hills...so I knew my lungs wouldn't be happy either. In the end...as long as I could get a new PR I would be happy.

We walked up a hill to start the race and then took off. You would think that walking UP a hill would mean a fast start going downhill!?! Wishful thinking right? Somehow we started climbing right off the bat. I did my best to power up the hills and let my self recover a little bit once I got up them as to not completely whack out my heart rate. This one girl with a goarmy.com shirt passed me and I decided to just draft off her the whole race...then with about .5 mile left I passed her up on a hill. With about .25 left this girl passed me and looked like she was going strong..and I thought "Awwwww helllll no you dont! You will NOT pass me in the last .25 mile!"...and I just took off like a bat out of hell and sprinted past her and kept sprinting till the end. My splits were as follows :
8:31
8:33
8:45
Finishing time was 26:31 for a pace of 8:32 which is good for a PR by 36 seconds (which is GREAT considering that PR was set on a flat course) I decided to stick around for the awards since I didn't see too many girls ahead of me..I thought there was a chance I might win something.

I could hear all the chatter on how tough the course was...and talk about the hills..and traffic (they warned us multiple times about the traffic and risk of dying on the course...sweeeeeeet! The race was to benefit wounded soldiers..however I felt like they were trying to recruit wounded runners). We then planted a tree in honor of all the wounded soldiers and dumped coffee, water, gatorade, baby formula on it. I wouldnt be surprised if the tree is dead tomorrow.

So we get to the womens age group of 20-29 and they call the third place girl with a time of 28:30...Inside I get all excited thinking "YES!! I got 2nd in my age group!" 2nd place girl with a time of "25:40"....wait..what? Did they just skip me? Wait..what age group are we in again? HOLD UP PEOPLE!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE?

So I start talking to myself..Do I say something? Do I walk up and make a scene? Do I care? What do I do??? Then I started thinking...this isn't fair. I'm not fast enough to EVER win an award..and I have a blog..where I could post the picture of me and my award...ahhhhhhh...so I decided to step up and say something. The guy acted like it was a BIG deal that they messed up..and I kept trying to explain it's not that big of a deal..and I quietly disappeared back into the crowd. I figured once they finished announcing the women that he would announce the mistake or something..nope nothing...finishes the guy awards...even finishes the DOG AWARDS!!!..and no mention of runninduff :(

So then I was annoyed..this guy KNEW he messed up...tried to cover it up and let it slip through the cracks..(funniest part..his company was called "Exact Timing"...riiiiggghhhttt)..so I decided to say something. He was able to scrounge up a 3rd place age group medal for the 60 & Over! AWESOME!!!!! (being super sarcastic here). Never announced it to anyone.....and I had to ask to get my picture taken with my 60 & OVER medal! ANYONE could get 3rd place in the 60 and OVER group! Ughh..so frustrating. So by the end I felt extremely stupid...for making a big deal out of a stupid 5k...but at the same time I felt sooo slighted. I know if he would have admitted the mistake to everyone I probably would have walked away and never thought anything of it. It was the fact that I never got ANY recognition for poppin lungs out there on those hills....

Ok....and secretly the worst part. The girl who walked away with MY medal was the girl that I decided to beat this time because she wore tights with stirrups on them and running shorts over them. The whole combo was making her out to be some super duper professional runner..and I just KNEW I had to beat her. The best part...I never even saw her as I finished 2 minutes ahead of her...but wait...who has the medal? She does! I think that made it worse....

So...here it is...in all its glory!! My 60 & Over award....



Am I sad I didnt break 25 minutes? Yes..however this was NOT the course to do it on. The 20-29 GUYS division first place winner ran 25:56 only 30 seconds faster than me. Does it make me want to run a sub 25 on a flat course even more? Yes!...I can't wait to get back to O-Hi-O and do it! I need to check this goal off the list. Did the world stop since I didn't conquer my goal? I don't know...my clock is still ticking...so I guess not haha.

I will post the final stats when the race results are up.....although I'm sure they will be all screwed up and say I ran a 3 hr 5k..so much for "exact timing"...they didnt even use chips...what a joke!

15 comments:

Oz Runner said...

sounds like a really tough course, and how disappointing that they messed up on the awards...the race director should have made things right as soon as he knew there was a mistake.....still, it's kind of funny that you have a 3rd place 60 and over award now....

audgepodge said...

First, CONGRATS on a new PR and finishing so strong!

Second, OMG - I would have been soooo pissed off if that was me. You had a great moment and they totally ruined it. Well, you're getting speedy - I'm sure you'll place again soon :D

Carolina John said...

wounded runner? haha, that's a good one. congrats on the new PR! i'll take a 36 second pr any day over an age group medal. Good Job!

That Pink Girl said...

Congratulations on the PR! I am cracking up at your post though. Hmm, will they list on on-line as the winner of the over 60? You've GOT to get a screen shot of that one!

J said...

I would totally have been upset about them messing stuff up at the race but I am not sure I would have had the courage to go up and say something! I would send an email to the company that sponsored the race after the results come out.

i am Susan said...

Good Job! I think I would have stolen the 2nd place medal right off of the other persons neck and ran as fast as I could : )

Eileen Swanson said...

Sorry they messed up on awards, but great job on your run!! Nice blog!

Aron said...

LOL that is hilarious... SUCKS that they messed up like that but pretty funny about the 60+ AG award :)

CONGRATS on a great race on a tough course!!!

X-Country2 said...

I'd have punched someone in the boob and ran off with MY medal! (Just kidding... mostly) Great race though.

Eileen Swanson said...

Hi, yes we definitely can help! Send me your email address and I'll send you more info on our program, eileencswanson@yahoo.com

Talk to you soon!

Unknown said...

Congrats on your PR and exellent finish. I would have been so mad that stirrup pants girl got my medal, and you got a 60+ medal. At least it made a funny story:)

Unknown said...

oh no, that's silly, but wear your 60yo medal proudly lol. that 25min time will have nothing on ya when you get to a flat course!

Benson said...

good job with getting out and racing. Congrats on your PR.
Definitely hold Exact Timing accountable. Give exact timing some "constructive" feedback so they can make some improvements.
You ran it, you finished second AG, you get the award.

Brian said...

gotta love the stirrups on the tights.

at least it's a race you'll remember well from all the stories

Kelli said...

Nothing like starting a race with a disclaimer "risk of dying on the course". They might as well send a pack of wild dogs behind the runners. Great job on the PR!!