Thursday, November 29, 2012

Thanksgiving Wattle Waddle Fun!!




Thanksgiving morning I woke up bright and early to head out to run a Thanksgiving 5 miler. Some may think I'm crazy for running on Thanksgiving. However, I think otherwise. I have so much to be thankful for this year. Besides my family and friends who I am the most thankful for, I am very thankful I am able to still be running. When I started my journey with running I was struggling with getting to a 5k finish line. Here I was waking up to run a 5 miler for fun on Thanksgiving. I have accomplished a ton this year towards my running goals.

After waking up and getting my gear ready, I headed to pick up one of my BRF's. (Best Runner Friend) We drove to Emmitsburg, MD. where the race was taking place. It was freezing out. Probably one of the coldest day's since last winter. Brrr. I wasn't ready for it. We met up with some of our other BRF's at the race start. It was great to be able to run with everyone again. I absolutely love these ladies.

I had run this race last year so I wasn't really nervous or worried what it would be like. There were only about 100 people there. It was small but a very nice crowd. We knew a lot of the people there because it was one of the 16 races in the Steeplechaser's Grand Prix series. Which a lot of us are apart of.  Once introductions and prayers were said we were off to run. I stayed pretty consistent with my pace and, was near the rear of the pack as I usually am.  Wow, I had no memory of how many hills were on this course. With a mix of the cold and not having ran a run since the OBX I was struggling. Thankfully, I had my BRF with me and we chugged along. We finished at around 1:09. Not a PR for me but... hey I got off the couch that morning and, I was able to eat a piece of pie later and not feel guilty about it!!
One of the most amazing things about this race is even though the majority of the runners are done between 30 mins to 45 mins. Everyone waits until the last runner comes through before starting the awards. As a slower runner myself this is very awesome. I have come in quiet a bit of finishes where no one is around or cheering you in. Every single runner/spectator at the Emmitsburg Wattle Waddle was there cheering all the runners in. Right down to the very last runner. Awesome!!

It was a challenging race for me but, the atmosphere was fun and I loved being there with the rest of the ladies!
The race volunteers were amazing too. They were very motivating. They could have been still asleep in their beds, but they made the trek out to help. That's pretty awesome!
I will most likely be doing this race again next year!
We look cold right?!? Lol.

The course was on the roads around Emmitsburg Community Park and Town.

My BRF and I coming in to the finish!

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