Oak Hill Howlin and Prowlin 5K

I had pretty much figured that from now on I was going to be running distances further than 5K to challenge myself. But this 5K was to raise funds for my son's school to get technology into their classrooms. As a former technology specialist in a school....and a mom....how could I not run this race? Loved it! It was a great course (and pretty cool b/c it is in the neighborhood near where I used to live when I was training for the Ragnar last fall and I ran a whole lot of that course during my training) and a great weather day! And the VERY best part of this race was that not only was my good friend Sue running this race too (she also did the 8K with me at the beach) BUT my parents and my sweet boys were there to cheer me on at the start and the finish. There is no feeling like that. Loved having my sweet boys see me enter the finish shoot and couldn't wait to high five and hug me. Color me a happy momma!

Here's the nitty gritty details of how I finished:
Total time = 32 min 32 sec
Place = 165/323 runners overall; 11/25 female runners age 35-39 (eep I
creeped up an age bracket).

St Agnes Fitness Festival 10K

My next racing adventure came just one month after my 8K :) On Saturday April 16th I got up on a cold and rainy morning to drive more than 30 minutes to Arlington to participate in this community race. It took all the strength I had to drag myself out of bed that morning to show up to that race....start time was at 8AM which meant I had to leave my apartment by 7...on a Saturday.....in the cold and rain. But I did it. I was amped up to get the race started and found the waiting to be frustrating. Not only was it cold and wet (did I mention that already??) but hearing other runners lament about the course at the start line was working my last nerve. I didn't need to be feeling doubt before I even started!! Finally the race kicked off (15 min late) and off we all went on a really really hilly course through some neighborhoods in Arlington. When I hit the largest hill (which was as tough going down as it was up) I had a thought that made me shutter.....I was going to have to do this hill AGAIN!!! The course design was simple....a 5 K loop that us 10K runners would do TWICE! At the end of the 5K the happy shorter distance runners trucked along to the left and the rest of us to the right. Amazing how thin the herd got at that point :) Just ahead of me was a girl I was able to identify as a marathoner (had seen her in the pack at the start line and heard her talking). I decided at that moment (3.5 miles in to the 6.2 mile race) that I was going to keep up with her. And I am proud to say I did! She finished a mere 90 seconds ahead of me. Can't say that she's a good marathoner or not....no idea....don't even know her name. Just know that she has run and finished marathons...and I kept up with her....and that works for me :) By the time we ended the 10K...they had cleaned up the finish line inflatable (not because we are 2nd class citizens but b/c the wicked thunderstorms were rolling in) but the sweet elementary school students were waiting at the finish with bottles of water and big smiles to congratulate us. That totally made the day for me :) Dying for numbers yet?? Here's how I did that day:

Total time = 1 hour 6 min 25 sec
Place = 53/64 runners overall; 6/7 female runners age 30-34

All I know is....I didn't finish last....makes me happy!