Chapter 2 page 557– 5 Kilt Race Recap (TR 180)

Happy St. Patty’s Day!!!! 

Saturday morning I ran the 3rd annual 5Kilt (get it – 5K and kilt for the irish – hahaha – clever right!).  This was my 2nd time doing this race.  It had some rocky issues in the first two years so my expectations were pretty low – this was all about just having fun!!!  The race directors are a bunch of firefighters who use this event as a fundraiser and made many improvements to the race – all in all, it was a LOT of fun and was pretty smooth (except that we got a ticket for either beer or food and I never did figure out where to redeem that at – sigh).

The weather was absolutely stunning – it was probably about 60* during the race (sure felt a LOT warmer) with a minimal breeze.  The perfect blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds made it feel more like June rather than March (last year the temp was 30* with 30 mph winds – brrrr). 

This race, because of the novelty of it, has GROWN in popularity.  This year, there was nearly 900 participants.  It felt crazy jammed at the start and really I weaved around people the entire race– a VERY rare thing for me – usually I find myself at least a half a block away from the next closest person by the midpoint (if not sooner).  If the race continues to grow, they will have to change the course as part of it is on a narrow elevated path – so many people were near me that at one point I got over as far as I could (the path is probably only 5’ wide) and nearly fell down a 15’ bank – yikes!

The vast majority of participants were sporting some St. Patty’s Day spirit – beads, hats, cute t-shirts, kilts, and tons wore knee socks – all of it made this event more about fun and less about serious racing!  It was that – FUN!!!!

There were so many people there that everyone seemed to know someone.  “C’s” oldest daughter ran into 2 of her swimming friends from high school – how cute are they?  (L to R:  “K” (“C’s” oldest daugheter), “C”, and the 2 swimming friends – wish you could see their shirts better – they are perfectly adorable!!!

“C” has recently switched to Brooks (she’s been a die hard Asics gal ever since I started running with her) – well, of all the shoes in the world, it turns out her daughter also wears the same kind – aren’t they cute shoe twins : )

What race would be complete without some pre-race screwing around fun photos . . . I had to show my blue gum in the first photo below (hee hee)

I should have spent more time training, more time planning, and more time making a strategy.  Heading to the starting line I had delusions that I could run the whole thing – NOT!  After 2 songs I decided to try to run 2 songs walk 1 song – YEAH until the next song and for the rest of the race I ran 1 song walked 1 song.  Not optimal, but it was warm and I started out way too fast to run nonstop.  I ended up about 1 minute slower than my PR (which is pretty good for me; nearly 4 minutes faster than last year at this race), 38:51 (though it did take me 45 seconds to cross the starting line – told you it was crowded).

What race would be complete without some post-race screwing around silly photos . . . enjoy!

The race was everything I expected – A.WHOLE.LOT.OF.FUN!!!! 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 

Hope the luck of the Irish is shining on you today!