5K Race Recap

I got up at 6:45 this morning to drive into lexington to run the Girls on the Run 5k. Why do races always have to start so early?! Too early for a saturday! Jack was very sweet and got the girls up after I left and brought them out to cheer me on at the finish line. (I promised him we could go out to breakfast afterward if he came ;)
This race was a little different than most because along with the other 600 or so regular racers there were about 300+ elementary school girls running in it who are a part of the Girls on the Run program. The 5k is like their grand finale for the whole program each year. It was a really fun environment, the girls had tutus on and their hair sprayed different colors.
They had the regular runners line up first followed by the Girls on the run participants. I positioned myself in the middle of the pack, I definitely didn't want to be in the front and have all the super fast men zoom past me right away. Once we took off, rather than being passed, I actually had to weave myself around a bunch of people in order to run the pace I wanted too.
The course was pretty flat with only a few small hills, which was nice. I'm used to running a lot of steep hills around my neighborhood, so that along with the adrenaline of running against other people allowed me push harder than normal. I felt great!
As I approached the first mile sign I looked at my watch to check pace, and realized I forgot to turn it on...drat! So I had no idea how I was doing, if I needed to push harder to reach my goal or not. So I just focused on keeping with a couple of men right in front of me. I knew I was running faster than normal so I hoped it would be enough.
When I was approaching the finish line and saw the clock read 23 minutes something I was ecstatic! My goal was to finish in under 26 minutes...I killed it!!!  haha!
Jack and the girls where standing near the finish line, smiling and waving!Well, Kara didn't notice me, but there were lots of balloons holding her attention :)



running it in...I was making a stinky face :(

 

I'm so fast...he almost missed me! lol!

 

We didn't stick around too long after the race, I wasn't sure if they were announcing the places or anything like that, plus I promised everyone a breakfast out. And we were hungry!

Celebratory breakfast at Cracker Barrell. She's ready for her pancake!

Kara loved this thing! She was concentrating so hard on pulling on the pegs out and putting them back in.

Rockin.

Since we left before all the runners had finished. I didn't know my official time or place until we got home and I was able to check the race results online. My official time was 23:23!!! I place 2nd in my age group and 5th woman overall! I never considered that'd I be able to place in the top 5. I was a little excited!!! Now I'm pumped for another!