5k race results

First off, my apologies, there are no pictures. I seriously need to start putting a note on my forehead to remember my camera! By the time I did, I was on the interstate which was down to one lane. I was afraid of being late or not finding parking. I should have gone back and gotten it, because I got there in plenty of time with lots of parking still available. Oh well, next time, I will remember. Ya'll can keep me to that. ;-) I also forgot Tovah's harness, so I had to run her on her collar. :-(

I think there was a total of 700+ racers. There were a lot of dogs of various sizes, breeds, and mixes who showed up--some ran, some walked, and some just came to watch. I did see a small dog in a doggie stroller, though I don't think she ran. There were a good number of kids as well, and they had a fun run dash after the race was over.

The race itself went okay. IMO, 10 AM is too late to start a race even if it a short one, especially if you have dogs. My guess is that it 73-74 degrees which is hot for running, but on the plus side, it was not raining. The race was a little disorganized. We were all by the start line, and the announcer had a megaphone but no one could hear with all the talking. Then, suddenly I hear "on your mark, get set, go" and the gun goes off. People to the left and right of me were like "oh, we're starting now." But needless to say we were off.

Tovah was ramped to go the first 1 1/2 miles, and we were ahead in the dog/runner division. But then, Tovah was not speeding up, and I had a hard time getting her to go faster. Where was a squirrel or bird when I needed them?

I saw another dog/runner duo, and we were running side by side at one point. She was a basketball player and just running to stay in shape. Her Boxer was with her, not sure if he ran much though, and not in that warm weather for sure. Anyway, she pulled and ahead and won in the dog/runner division by 23 seconds, and we came in second.

It was a bit funny after the race, because the officials had come to me asking if I was the first dog/runner duo to finish. I could have easily lied you know, but that's not me of course. I told them it was the girl with the brindle Boxer. They eventually found her, and she got her medal.

When I looked at the results later, surprisingly, we were running a faster pace than I thought, so though there was no medal winning for us, it was still a good race. The male and female winners were booking it as were the runners running with strollers. I didn't think this was quite fair, because it was all men! In real life, how many of us actually see men running with kids in their strollers?

I met up with a girl from the running group, and we walked around the vendors and gabbed a bit. I told her my latest career or at least temporary job thoughts which she thought was cool. I will share that in the next post.

Overall, Tovah did pretty well with the other dogs. There was still a little snarking, but she wasn't the only one per se. I was proud of myself for only having one dog trainer moment. There was a guy who had his dog's harness on completely ass-backwards. It was very unsafe. I went up and told the guy nicely, it was backwards and not fitted correctly. He really did not seem to have a clue. Now, whether he will change the harness or not is anyone's guess, but at least he's aware.

So that is the race report for the OTR 5k. There are some more 5k and 10k races coming up which I may do, but still debating. I'll likely be doing a fall marathon, so am starting that training process. One thing for sure is that I've got to acclimate my body to warm temperatures. For whatever reason, it seems much tougher this time around. Like everything else, it's just about getting yourself out there, albeit safely, well hydrated, and nourished of course. :-)

ps.--In a bizarre fashion here, I was looking back over the results, and there is a name that looks strangely familiar--a girl from my college chemistry class. I'm almost positive it is her, and the age is about right. I have no way of contacting her though :-( This was a girl who used to beat me on every chemistry test (I really sucked at chemistry anyway), despite the fact I was helping her! And of course yet again, she beat me by 4 seconds. It's a friendly rivalry though.

pps--if I find any pics from the race, I'll post them.