Two Days, Two States, Two Races

This morning, Steve and I did the First Annual Team Emmett Courage to Conquer 5K. I entered it because Susanna sent out an email asking people to do it. Steve did it because I said I was doing it. In the end, we all did it. It was a great race for a great cause, and a beautiful day for a wog.

After finishing, Steve and I headed home for a quick shower, loaded the car and headed for Lexington, Kentucky, for the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon and 5K (I'm doing the former and Steve's doing the latter). I'm doing the race because several months ago I "won" a free entry (when will I learn my lesson with "free"?).

I've had my doubts about this race, For one thing, it's small - around 800 runners. I like races with tens of thousands of runners - it improves my odds of not being dead last. With this number of runners, I felt like there was a good chance that it would be 799 fast runners finishing in 90 minutes, and then me finishing in 3 1/2 hours.

For another thing, there was no mention on the website about pace times or a time limit for the half. From my experience, most small races are created for fast runners - and they make it pretty clear that if your shoes aren't on fire by the time you're finishing (from running so fast), then you just better not even darken the city limits. I became concerned enough about the pace/time limit that I emailed the race director. He was very kind to email me back with the information that "There is no time limit for our half-marathon. Walkers and runners of all paces are definitely welcome! Just FYI, last year, the official timing stopped around 4 hours - but most walkers aren't concerned about an "official time" anyway." Sounds like my kind of race.

So it seemed like I was going to do another half-marathon. Then I started reading about Skinny Emmie. She's doing the half, on her own terms, and has raised over $2600 for Parkinson's research in memory of her mom. I contributed to her fund raising efforts and ended up winning a bracelet - truly an unexpected treat from an unexpected source!

Tomorrow morning I will be out at the race start, hoping to finish 13.1 more miles. I'm doing it with nobody I know, yet I feel that I'm doing it with friends. I'm not sure how long it will take me, but however long it takes - it will be just fine. In fact, I think the back of the race shirt says it best - You Run Your Race. And I think I just will.

Two Days, Two States, Two Races - both memorable for supporting great causes and wogging with friends, both old and new. What more could I hope from a weekend?

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Today's blessings: 5K-ing it with Susanna and Steve; beautiful day for a road trip to Kentucky and its beautiful scenery; half-marathon shirt; Maribeth arriving back in the states