This is going to a race recap that’s short on words and heavy on pictures. If you want a refresher about why I wanted to run this particular race (while being 100% out of shape) you can read this post!
I was not nervous at all going into this race because I knew I was completely out of shape. I didn’t really have a time goal so much as I had an estimate of when I thought I would finish. I ran a 5k back in November when I was in really good shape an I finished it in 25:36, so I estimated that I’d finish this one in 28-30 minutes. I would be a little sad if it took me a full 30 minutes to finish the race, but considering I’d only run three times total leading up to this race (after a full month off) I couldn’t really be too upset.
A few pre race photos: The starting line! It was gloomy and chilly that day – perfect weather for running a race!
The MC for the race was Dan Evans from season 5 of the biggest loser!
He was talking to some girl before the race and I heard her says, “Yeah, and I’m vegan!” I immediately cheered (so did Hannah!) and started taking more pictures!
Then I noticed she was wearing the KALE shirt, which is one of my favs, so of course I found her and asked if we could take a picture together. She insisted that she hold up a picture of her vegan personal trainer so that people could see how hot you can be when you’re vegan. Haha!!
They even had a Biggest Loser scale for us to pose on.
Here I am looking like a nerd before the race started.
Hannah snapped one of my just as we were taking off.
The beginning of the race was a hot mess. There were kids and walkers participating too so I spent the first three minutes or so weaving in and out of people, trying not to trip on kids who don’t know how to run in a straight line, reminding my self that I’m happy that all of these people are out here on a cold Saturday running a race, even if they are a little bit in my way at the moment.
As we got father and farther into the race and I passed more and more people I could see that there was only 20ish people in front of me. It felt surreal that I was doing so well in a race when I was so out of shape. I thought to myself, “Could I win an age group award?” and immediately pushed the thought from my head. How could I be so ridiculous and think such a thing? I’m not fast enough for that crap. And how could I jinx myself like that? Even if it was true before it certainly wouldn’t happen now.
I just kept running a long, even though it looks like I’m skipping.
You can see in these pictures that my thumbs get cold when I run, so I tuck them inside my fists. It looks a little ridiculous.
As we got closer to the end of the race this woman (below) and I kept passing each other. She’d slow down and I’d pass her, then she’d sprint a head of me, then I’d pass her again… Once the finish line was in my sight I decided I’d had enough of that and I sprinted to the finish. This may sound crazy but that was the first time I’d EVER sprinted across the finish line. I know that’s what your supposed to do in a race but I’ve just never cared before. (Side note: that woman ended up coming in first place in her age group! Whoo-hoo!!).
About 20 minutes after I crossed the finish line they had the results posted. Hannah found my name first and said, “Hey, you came in 24th place overall!” Wow, that’s pretty awesome. I quickly snapped a picture and got out of the way so everyone else could see how they did in the race. That’s when I saw that I CAME IN 3RD PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP and my final time was 28:28. Seeing that made me so happy and made me fall in love with racing all over again! I quickly scanned the rest of the results and saw that the girl who came in first place in my age group got 26:52. Seeing that just made me sad. All I could think was that my other 5k time was better than that and I could have come in first place in my age group if I had been in better shape.
Having that thought go through my head really made me dizzy. “Am I really sitting here seeing that I came in third place, feeling disappointed that I didn’t come in first place? Who am I?” I felt so amazing that I’d done so well in the race and it was nice knowing that I had a previous race time that would have put me in first place in different circumstances. It was really motivating and right now I really need some motivation!
A while later they announced the overall male and female winners for the races and then they announced the age group winners. I go to go up and be recognized in front of everyone, I got a pretty white 3rd place ribbon, and I got to take a picture with Dan and his mom, Jackie, who was also on the show with Dan! I was giddy with excitement over getting to meet them – maybe more so than I was over the fact that I was getting a ribbon!
After my race there was a Kids K race to encourage kids to be active and help combat childhood obesity. It was awesome seeing so many kids out there, and excited to run!
I had so much fun running this race and it definitely lit a fire in me to want to race again soon! I’ll be back with more details on that later in the week! : )
I am SO jealous you got to meet Dan and Jackie. I loved Dan!
How do you manage to still look gorgeous while running? So not fair.. ;) I always make the comment during Biggest Loser that I am so glad no one is filming ME when I work out or run because I’m sure I look hideous and ridiculous.
I also recently told Daniel I want a Biggest Loser t-shirt, so I am now jealous of your shirt.