Prelude: This race was a comedy of errors....well, without the whole mistaken identity bit. Went into this race as a training long run with no taper and low running mileage. This is the first week of full 20+ running mileage because I've been sick the past few weeks so I just wanted to get through this 9.3 miles w/out hurting too bad. Charles and I had mexican food for dinner the night before and I thought I would be ok b/c I didn't have anything spicy: Chicken tacos and chicken tortilla soup. That would come back to bite me in the a$$.

Race: Race was actually "officially cancelled" around 8:15 because of lightning but the race director said that we could have an "unoffical" training run since the course was already set up and police were already there and paid for, even times and awards might magically happen. So, around 8:30 we all took off in the pouring rain.

Mexican food came back to haunt me first few miles with a vengence and I was reduced to doing the butt pucker shuffle. I was scared that I was going to have an accident....not gonna lie. To make things worse, I took a sharp left turn onto a new pathway because during the course briefing I vaguely heard "take a sharp left turn for a short out and back". I didn't really pay attention at the time b/c I figured I was a BBBBBBOP runner I would just follow the people infront of me. Well, with my GI system in full revolt I was even slower than usual and with only 32 runners I was the very last person. So, ran up the pathway for a bit, but I had a feeling I wasn't going the right way so I turned around. Got back on the main path and saw the most beautiful thing.....porta potty! Got to it and it was being used (oh, C'MON!!!)......finally, after what felt like an eternity the occupant left. Sweet baby jesus! Relief. That was probably the worse 2.9 miles of my life. Felt instantly better and I was able to do my usual shuffle. Saw a 3 mile marker shortly after so I was happy to be back on track.

I couldn't see anyone behind or infront of me, so I was resigned to the fact that I would be DFL. No problem. Ran by myself and just had alot of fun goofing off in the rain. I know they say not to run through puddles because you don't know how deep they are and you could twist an ankle or whatever, so I jumped and planted both feet into almost every puddle I saw like a little kid. Around mile 4 I saw a guy, so I picked up my pace a bit to see if I could catch him. I did and passed him. I started to get thirsty and realized I forgot my handheld water bottle at home. Last sip of water I had was near the 5k turn around (5k & 15k race going on simultameously). Crapola. I tried turning my face upwards to catch some rain drops but that wasn't really quenching my thirst. Stopped at the water fountains and saw a few un-manned water stations along the loop. Mile 6ish I saw a lady and started picking up my pace to catch her. I did and we started talking. I was kinda lonely and she was going at a nice conversational pace, so I figured I would stay with her. Wasn't like I was going to podium or anything. She and I chit chatted and ran the last few miles together. About 8 miles my boyfriend who finished in 1:15 came back for me bringing some much needed water. He ran with us and as we got to 9 miles I decided to quicken my pace a bit and come in strong.

Finish: We just hung around a bit, eating apples and bananas, drinking water. During the awards ceramony I heard my name called. I ended up getting 1st in AG........wait, what? BRAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA! Since there were only 32 ppl that ran the 15k, everyone got a trophy!

In the end, I made every mistake possible (see list below) which caused me to have an excruciatingly slow time. My RnR half mary time in March was a minute faster per mile than this race but this is the most fun race/run I have ever done. I was slow, had major GI issues, the weather was storming but I had an absolute blast out there, meeting a nice lady and taking 1st in my AG because no one else was there, ha! I was sopping wet from head to toe looking like a drenched rat, but I don't think I've ever had such a big grin on my face after a long run before. So...the lesson? Sign up for small local races and pray for crappy weather so no one shows up so you can podium. =)



1.) Do not eat mexican food for dinner the night before because my death shuffle becomes the butt pucker shuffle which is infinately slower.
2.) Do not forget hand held water bottle to a small low key race because you will become dehydrated....even in the rain.
3.) Do not wear brand new shoes (I vaguely remember doing this before...hmmm) because they will cause arch pain and blisters.
4.) Do not forget to body glide...especially during a down pour because it will chafe you raw in areas you do not want chafed.
5.) Do not assume that because the course is a loop you will not get lost, I am navigationally challenged. Study course maps before races! (<----I always forget this one!)