I started out running, well, 'running', very slow and easy. The first mile is all uphill, gradual, so I didn't want to do anything stupid right off the bat. There were a lot of walkers who didn't start in the walker corral that made things a bit tricky, a bit obstacle course-like. The trend of dodging walkers continued pretty much throughout the whole first mile. I remembered from last year's race that some folks had an 'alternate beverage' stop, so I kept my eye out for that since I wasn't taking the race too seriously. I spied what appeared to be a mimosa station at a different spot from last year, and the people seemed different, too; less eager to hand out beverages. I continued past, disappointed, especially when they offered one to the guy dressed like a beer bottle who was running behind me!

Finally, near the mile 1 marker, I spotted the people from last year, this year offering mimosas or beer. I veered off, grabbed a mimosa, toasted a few folks including one of the girls running the table and thanked them, drank it in a few swallows and headed back on course, happy. I was also happy to have been locamoting in a running fashion for the whole first mile!

The next section is mostly downhill, or at least downhill-ish, and it was here I was able to get in a bit of a groove and continue to run. My ankle and hamstring, the aforementioned injuries, weren't too bothersome. Oh yay, now it's time to go up, what looks like straight up! The cross streets between the major streets are all pretty steep little hills, some worse than others. I shortened my stride, hoping to be able to plug away and not technically walk. My chest started tightening up near the top because of my asthma, but I told myself I can make it and recover once I get to the top. I did and I did. :) I walked for a little to get my breathing and chest back under control, then resumed running. This part is also mostly downhill with a small rise, so I was able to keep an OK pace. Hmm, I thought, this is going much better than anticipated! Little pain in the ankle, none, really, in the hamstring. Cool, I think I can run the rest of this thing!

Soon there was another steep up on a cross street, by a cemetary (how fitting), ha, and mile 2! This one wasn't quite as long as the other, and my breathing didn't get as bad so I didn't stop to walk once I crested the hill. Kept cruising along, content. They moved the steep downhill to a slightly less-steep street than last year (another cross street) which was helpful but boy, it's still a quad burner! It was on the steep downhill I saw LT (who had already finished) cheering me on. I yelled at her as she yelled at me. :) I turned the corner with the remainder of the course on the downhill to the finish! I decided I might as well turn it up a few notches since I was feeling good and passed A LOT of people in that last section.

I neared the finish line and saw another friend cheering just beyond the line. After crossing the line, I headed over to her, still with a lot of momentum (and still moving downhill). She had her arms out as though to hug me, so I got to her with my arms out as well for the hug. Well, that wasn't quite how things played out...I hit her, rather literally, and we both went down before we knew what was happening. The resistance I expected to meet when connecting with her was absent. She bore the worst of it, being on bottom and having a big galoot land on top of her! I grabbed her and rolled her out from under me, a bit too late, on 'the bounce', LOL. Other friends helped us up, we were both laughing. She ended up with a bit of bleeding road rash on her elbow, a bruised butt and a sore ankle. I had the tiniest little scuff on my palm which was barely visible and a tiny bruise about the size of a nickel on my bicep which I didn't notice until later. I apologized no less than 100 times that day, mostly on the spot but also later. Who knew running was a full contact, tackling sport?!

Not tackle my friend?! Otherwise, I'm happy with the race. It went better than expected.

Condensed version: Water. Beer. Pierogies. Ice cream. Lots of laughs with friends.

Longer version: Found LT again and told her the tackling story as we waited to cheer Cuda to the finish. She laughed like a hyena. Once Cuda completed the race, we found my friends and got in the beer line. As we neared the dispensing area, we saw none other than Dick Yuengling, the owner of the brewery standing getting pics with people. Everyone (of my group) but me left the line (hey, someone needed to keep our spot) to get pics with him. I ended up photobombing Cuda's pic with him :). After receiving our two free beers, we found a spot in the sun to chat and drink.

During our time at that spot we inherited two more beer slips and I found two more on the ground, score! We split the goods between ourselves, including LT's beers (she doesn't drink beer). The atmosphere is very fun. The street is closed off and lined with vendors selling food, shirts, jewelry, all sorts of things and there were live bands taking turns on a stage in front of the brewery. Yuengling recently restarted its ice cream line after discontinuing it in 1985, so we tried some free samples. Mrs. T's pierogies also had a stand there, giving out free mini pierogies (yum, I SO love pierogies and they are part of the coal/steel region culture). Smart marketing move on behalf of Yuengling and Mrs. T's: Yuengling had their wing sauce on the pierogies which was very tasty! I was able to meet and get a pic with the owner of Mrs. T's pierogies, Tom, who was very personable. In my attempt to get a pic of me with my pierogies, I got photobombed my LT and two complete strangers, hysterical!

We spent a fair amount of time laughing, telling stories, people watching and enjoying the sun. Eventually K and A left, so LT, Cuda and I walked the street to check out the goodies before we left. I bought some bourbon bacon popcorn. We decided we needed to hit Vito's before we hit the road to go home. I wish there would be a place with pizza that good in our area, but since it's only about an hour drive, we said we will make the drive just for pizza, it's that good!


Being sidelined with various injuries since Dec. 2. I think I've run less than 10 times since that date and all runs were only around a mile. Fear of making any lingering injuries worse. But truly, all things considered, I'm happy with my time.


The race last year was very organized for a first time event, and the organizers learned a few lessons from last year and made this year even bigger and better. Kudos to all for a well-run race.