They started the race by time corrals, leaving a few minutes between each group. It was about 7-8 minutes until our little group started. I tried to put us in the 11+ min/mile group but didn't see the little flags they had to designate the corrals, so we were actually in the 9-11 min/mile group. Once I realized my error, well, actually my sister overheard someone else comment about it, we made plans to move off to the right to allow faster runners past. Of course we were worried over nothing as people slower than us and walkers hadn't grouped themselves properly, either.

When the signal to go was given, all 4 of us started at a light jog, Whale included. I was surprised, since she doesn't run and wasn't planning on running. After a few hundred yards, Lizard and I pulled away from Cuda and Whale. Not too much later, I saw a broken steak knife blade in the road which was a bit creepy. Lizard had requested I stay with her, so I told her to dictate the pace and the run/walk intervals. She surprised me by running the entire first 1.25 miles, including going over the bridge (like a hill) and back down before she took a walk break.

There were German dancers and musicians throughout the course which was great fun!

We kept alternating running and walking but mainly running with me chattering away, offering encouragement and tips and general distraction. She opted not to stop for water at the only water stop, so I didn't take any, either. Once we crossed the river for the second time, she wanted to walk some more. I let her walk as long as she wished, then we decided together that it would be the final walk break and she would run to the finish. As we neared the finish, I could tell her energy was waning and she didn't want to keep running, so I kept encouraging her. She is one tough little cookie and pushed on and ran across the line. She was exuberant about finishing! We quickly looked for water, didn't readily see any (another little bit of foreshadowing), so we headed back to the finish area to cheer on Cuda and Whale.

Nothing. I was running at my friend's pace to be with her during her first race. This wasn't about me or my time.

When Cuda finished with Whale only 12 seconds behind her, we cheered and hugged and celebrated. I think Whale was wishing for an oxygen tank and a sofa! I was so incredibly proud of Whale and Lizard for taking on this challenge which is way out of their comfort zone and normal thing to do.

We searched for the 'medals' (decorated gingerbread cookies), snacks and water and eventually found them behind a non-moving wall of people. It was very disorganized and racers were handing the items out to the crowd, reaching over other people. I'm not really sure why it was a mess like this, maybe people were standing around rather than moving through the lines/area. We got our food and water, then needed to figure out where the 'medals' were. Again, we eventually found them behind a crowd of not really moving people. Frustrating. Next we retrieved our bags from bag check, which went significantly smoother than the drop-off.

It felt good to get our warm jackets on, it was windy and chilly. We stood in line for close to an hour for our 'free' beers, then headed in to enjoy the offerings of Oktoberfest! A decent assortment of German foods, a great Polka band who performed a fun mix of traditional Polka songs as well as contemporary rock songs that were 'Polka-ized', a traditional German dance troupe that did various dances including the Schuhplattler.

I got a Bratwurst sandwich with kraut and put imported German ketchup on one end and hot mustard on the other to try them both as well as some Sauerkraut pierogies, yum!! Later we shared apple dumpilngs with ice cream. Goes great with Oktoberfest beer, LOL! We did the Chicken Dance, the final song the band played before going on break before we left, great fun!

On the way out we spotted the Alp horn players. In between songs, I asked one a few questions and he gave me the history and info on the instrument and, wait for it, he let me play it!!! SQUEAL!! I played trombone in HS, so I was familiar with how to make different tones. Lizard got to play, too, and they had us do a little competition (which really drew a crowd), which I won, which was awesome until I realized that it meant I had to go up against one of the real guys next! Of course he won, hands down. I was on cloud 9 and didn't stop yammering about it for at least the next half hour! Truly the highlight of my day and weekend!

Poor Whale was really hurting after the race and was hurting even more the next day. Our dad said she was walking around like a 90 year old woman! I think she would've been OK if she'd stuck with her original plan to just walk.


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This was the first year for this race. Overall the experience was good, but they have some issues to address to improve for next year, namely better bag check, port-a-potties rather than relying on existing on-site bathrooms (which were nice, of course, but way too crowded), and maybe having more than one place to get beer. Having it in conjunction with Oktoberfest really made it a fun event. The good times we had at Oktoberfest helped lessen some of the bad of the issues listed above.