Wednesday, December 5, 2018

2018 St. Nick Fun Run 5K Recap!

This year's race shirt - love the design, but we were surprised with technical shirts, and had chosen our sized based on the cotton shirts in the past.  I could have used a smaller size but they were out when we tried to exchange them on race day.  Oh well.

On Saturday I ran the St. Nick Fun Run 5K for the fourth time - it's such a sweet little race that our group keeps coming back, year after year.  The weather was clear and a little cool at the start, but with an 8:00 am start time, we ran in the sun and it got pretty warm.  I was very glad that Diane and I were only running the 5K - that was enough sun for us. 

I updated my traditional Christmas attire with a new elf-inspired headband, and had bought some socks to match, but when I put the socks on that morning, they were too big in the foot - that one size thing doesn't work for everyone, drat.  I could have worn them to walk around in, but it would have been blister city to run in them, so I wore my old Christmas socks, which first made their appearance in 2010...apparently if you only wear something a couple times a year, they last forever.  That was a good $5 investment!
 
Looking pretty good for being nine years old!
Karen in her fascinator, as she called it, and me in my elf hat/headband.

Jimmymeow unveiled his new holiday shirt:
Why yes, that would be a Santa cat riding a unicorn, with the word BELIEVE at the bottom.  He got it at Walmart and said that you can get any kind of cat shirt you want at Walmart so file that information away just in case you need a specific cat shirt.

We got the group together for a quick pre-race photo:
From left:  Jeff, me, Andi, Logan, Cary, Karen, Cindy, Diane, Brian, and Julia.

Jeff, Julia, and Cary had run from the clubhouse, over the river (er, highway) and through the woods (ok, woodsy neighborhood), to arrive with 12 miles under their belts at the race start.  They changed clothes and got ready to run the 10K - with 18 miles on their marathon training schedule this is how they made it work with the race.

Diane and I ran together and had a very fast first mile, especially considering we were doing 2:1 intervals.  We slowed down a bit for the next two miles, but the route turned into a bit of an obstacle race because of a heavy rainstorm that had passed over a few hours prior - some of the roads had a lot of water on them.  The first one we came to, where the water was covering the road from side to side?  It didn't look that wide (maybe 4 feet) so I decided to leap over it.  Didn't quite clear the water and I ended up running the rest of the race with one soaked shoe.  I could have continued to leap the water obstacles, but decided that I pressed my luck enough with the first attempt and didn't want to slip and end up fully in the water, so I slowed down and gingerly picked my way around the rest of them.

We finished the race, got some water, and headed over to get our Blue Baker cookies; this race has the best sponsors!  Here's Logan enjoying his cookie:
I had one too but he looks cuter cramming it into his mouth than I did.
Post-race banana as well.  I had everything Logan did, plus Blue Baker coffee.  He looked like he wanted a sip of mine but I didn't share.
Selfie with Andi, Logan, and Cindy.

Then I saw a dog:
Much petting, much licking (the dog, not me) ensued - oh how I loved her.  Shhh, Paco has no idea I cheated on him.  I cannot resist the lure of a dachshund.

I headed over to the finish line to wait for the marathoners to come in - first Jeff and Cary:
The kid running in behind them was a race volunteer - I think he was trying to beat Jeff and Cary to the finish line, which was funny considering they were at mile 18.2!
Followed a few minutes later by Julia.
Longest run ever for Jeff and Cary - Julia has run a couple of marathons so she's an old pro with this distance.
They were doing the age group awards while we were standing there, and suddenly Jeff's name was called!  As he walked to the podium, the race director announced that he had actually run 18 miles that morning, which was nice.  It was a good thing he got third place because stepping up that high was rough after so many miles.  Santa helped him up, and then made for the funniest picture by standing behind the podium...I think he was of normal height but he sure looks short in this picture!
Afterward I held Logan, who was not super happy because he really wanted his mom to pick him up, but she was a little tired from the run.  And for any Texas A&M fans, you can see the back of the scoreboard at Kyle Field behind Logan's head - we were just across the street from the university.

We went to Blue Baker afterward, and I have to hand it to Tee, our regular server there.  Cary had texted her earlier to let her know we'd be a couple hours late, and when we got in line to place our orders, she had everything ready super fast - she was prepared for us with our usual orders all set to go!  It was a nice way to end race day.

18 comments:

  1. That sounds like a great race!!! Blue baker twice in the morning too!!!! Even better!!!

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  2. Such a happy post so much goodness!

    I'm surprised Paco didn't smell the other dog and figure out you were petting another dog!LOL

    Logan sure is growing up fast!

    All the runners that did the 18 miles look to be in good shape after the race! Congrats to Jeff on placing especially after having already run 12 miles at the beginning of this race.

    You sound happy that you did the short race and got to enjoy the festivities afterwards which, is so nice.

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    1. I am definitely enjoying running the shorter distance and getting to hang around the festivities afterward - when I do the longer distance, it's almost packed up by the time I finish.

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  3. Such a fun day! Congrats to Jeff! That's just amazing that the marathoners ran 12 before the race. I've never been able to combine a training run with a race. My head just can't compute it.

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  4. Jeff did some great running to place in that race after already running 12 miles. I've heard of runners starting with a race then finishing off the rest of their distance but never the reverse. Maybe your Renegades are on to something!

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    1. I think we are so used to running at 5:00 or 6:00 am that the thought of running so many miles later in the morning just sounds awful?

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  5. Ok that is crazy. I have the exact same socks from about 9 years ago and they are going strong.

    What a fun race. Kudos to Jeff. I can never train and race after. I usually do it the other way around.

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  6. Wow, that is even funnier about the "short santa." I actually thought it was a kid or a statue of santa when I saw it on FB. What a fun day you all had! Finishing up at Blue Baker is the best!

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    1. Even the race director laughed at my picture on FB!

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  7. What a great race! I'm glad you guys had so much fun! Sorry about the sock situation, but I love the ones you ended up wearing! Congrats!!

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  8. 18 miles. Never could I want to run a marathon LOL! I love your little hats - I think fascinator is the proper English term for them :D

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    1. It's funny, but watching them do their marathon training gives me zero wants to do a marathon. I know it will be a very special thing for Jeff, and I'm glad he's able to do it, but I'm happy to watch from the sidelines.

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  9. I love all your outfits! I can confirm I have seen lots of cat shirts at Walmart, too! Great job on the race!!! What's with the rain?!

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