This past weekend I spontaneously ran in a 5K race up in Springfield. It was the Lucky Clover 5K at the Dorris Ranch. I thought it would be fun to do a Saint Patrick's Day themed race, and who wouldn't want to run through orchards and along the river?
So my mom and I loaded all of my stuff into the car and we were on our way to the ranch. The weather was absolutely beautiful - we really lucked out! It was easy to find, which helped my mind a bit considering I was going crazy with pre-race jitters. I checked in, got my souvenir tech shirt, number and chip to attach to my shoe. Oh yeah, I felt like such a pro after that!
We then just hung out watching all of the other runners doing their warm up rituals. I had to keep my ritual tame --- I normally spaz out in my computer room to Tina Turner singing Proud Mary! It was totally a different race scene than the other two I was in. This seemed to have more of the "real" runners, versus women in tutus or little girls bundled up with scarves. There were some gals all in green head to toe, and even one in a kilt, however!
It was time to line up and get final directions. There were actually 2 races starting at the same time from the same spot - the trail race or road for the 5k people, and then the 10k race for people that would be doing both the trail AND road, in whichever order they chose! It seemed like it had potential to be confusing, but ended up pretty simple! At the start I quickly got myself out of the pack and in my own little bubble. I decided to quickly make my move, without going overboard on my pace, and passed all the slowpokes and the walkers.
The trail was really lovely. It led through filbert orchards and along the Willamette River. I am happy to report that nobody passed me! I stayed in my zone and would just stare down the person ahead of me until I passed them. Then the next person and the next. Yeah, I was pretty happy to pass and beat the 78 year old man. Heh heh. I was passed at the initial start by a black lab. I never saw it again....... until the last kilometer! Once I was on the final stretch I just kicked it into high gear. I had one moment where I was pretty sure I'd puke, but I didn't! Seeing the bagpipe player wandering through the trees kind of relaxed me and sent me pushing hard up the final hill. I was delighted when I caught up to that pretty dog and crossed the finish line at the same time she did!
We lingered until the end to watch the awards ceremony. Naturally I didn't get anything -but I was only 6 away from getting a medal for my age division, so that's pretty good! I even finished in the top half, which given the nature of these runners, I am pretty darn impressed with myself! It was a really fun time and a race I will definitely consider doing again next year. The only thing I'd change - no wait, I have 2 things..... first - more bagpipes. The other .... port-a-potties on SOLID ground. Have you ever used one of them and had it tipping over the entire time??? Yeah - I don't recommend it. It is terrifying!!!
I think being in a port-a-potty that tipped over is my husband's number one fear. He'd never be comfortable in his own skin again. Sounds like a cool race. Maybe I should find a race while I'm up in Oregon in June.
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