Brazen Racing's Wildcat 5k
First off this post comes with a disclaimer, there is going to be massive amounts of whine in this post if you're crazy enough to read on then you might want a block of cheese to go with it. And my second disclaimer, even though there is much that went very wrong with this race none of it is Brazen's fault. Their part was flawless as always, tons of volunteers, I saw many camera's out on the course, the spread at the end was fabulous, there was a great tech shirt and supurb bling. Sam was smiling and cheerful even though he's off to do a very challenging 60k race tomorrow. Marie was out on the course chipper and cheerful despite my grumpiness and negativity.
There are some pictures in this post, but many many more will be added later as all the volunteer photographers post pictures, I don't take pictures while out on the course I rely on the camera people throughout the course.
I woke up at 5:30am. Usually I won't stir at this time but for race day I never have a problem getting going. rare for me to actually see a sunrise :)
First thing that went wrong when we left my mom's house I realized about 2 blocks away that I'd left my shuffle in my car, Dad was generous enough to turn around for me as I like my tunes as I run (or rather stumble along like this race). With music in hand we took off again for the drive out.
Mom and Dad before the race, chipper and ready to go. Dad did the 10k, and Mom did the 5k. They both always do at least half marathons but due to a time constraint they had to do a shorter distance today. They both did fabulous, I beat my dad in by about 30 seconds, but he did double my distance. Mom beat me by at least 15minutes if not more. Mom got silver for her age category too!
Dad taking off. He might have started in the back of the pack, but he definitely didn't stay there.
I don't have any actual pictures from during the race as stated before I just tried to put one foot in front of the other and to not stop (this was very tempting) so the rest of the pictures are at home after the fact. After the race I was feeling pretty bad and didn't think to take any pictures.
the whole first mile was uphill STEEP uphill. at about .5 mile the 10k leader went blazing past so fast I almost got whiplash. I just kept stumbling along. My asthma was making it very hard to get oxygen while moving, I had to use my inhaler a lot!
this sign was before the first mile marker, what a tease!!! it was evil!!
I was convinced I was going to die and that would be it for me I finally turned a corner and started heading downhill, YAY!
shortly I finally reached mile 1. then I realized it was an out and back race so I'd have to turn around and race right back up that hill, dang it!
the rest of the way down to the aid station was downhill, I saw mom headed back in good spirits and plowed on. as I was approaching the aid station 2 bad things happened. 1. my ipod died. bleh. 2. I pulled out my phone to see what my time was and realized my tracker was set on "elliptical" so I don't know what my pace was or anything. bleh. it took me 28 minutes to reach the halfway point, my worst time ever. I got a sip to drink and turned around to go back uphill. There was a cow right by the aid station mooing at me.
somewhere around mile 2 I saw Marie's smiling face, she was sweeping the course and was very encouraging.
on the way back up the hill I stumbled by a photographer I couldn't even pretend to run. finally I reached the top of that hill then the rest was downhill I tried to run most of it, but my lungs were still very unhappy with me. shortly after mile 2 the half marathon leader blew by me, holy cow! at this point tons and tons of 10k peeps were passing me by. one foot in front of the other. try not to step in a hole. breathe. sheesh all this stuff to do. finally I saw mile 3 and knew it was almost over.
about this point my dad spotted me from up the hill and apparently thought he'd overtake me as I was going S L O W. but that finish line was close and I managed to pull in before him. seeing that arch was soooooo good.
I grabbed a drink, a few chunks of watermelon said hi to a few people then headed home. This course is very hilly, very little shade along the course, but thankfully a nice breeze. all in all I survived, but not by much. I think I did it in right around an hour. I was so tempted to just lie down and roll to the finish, but I managed to go under the arch upright.
5k-
overall #55 Diane Lucas bib #470 2nd in age group 47:22
overall #80 Danni Baird bib #428 7th in age group 59:29 (barely under an hour!)
10k-
overall #80 Allen Lucas bib #266 5th in age group 1:29:51
so happy to see my kids again.
cheese!
wildcat last years goodies to this years
all my bling
There are some pictures in this post, but many many more will be added later as all the volunteer photographers post pictures, I don't take pictures while out on the course I rely on the camera people throughout the course.
I woke up at 5:30am. Usually I won't stir at this time but for race day I never have a problem getting going. rare for me to actually see a sunrise :)
First thing that went wrong when we left my mom's house I realized about 2 blocks away that I'd left my shuffle in my car, Dad was generous enough to turn around for me as I like my tunes as I run (or rather stumble along like this race). With music in hand we took off again for the drive out.
Mom and Dad before the race, chipper and ready to go. Dad did the 10k, and Mom did the 5k. They both always do at least half marathons but due to a time constraint they had to do a shorter distance today. They both did fabulous, I beat my dad in by about 30 seconds, but he did double my distance. Mom beat me by at least 15minutes if not more. Mom got silver for her age category too!
Dad taking off. He might have started in the back of the pack, but he definitely didn't stay there.
I don't have any actual pictures from during the race as stated before I just tried to put one foot in front of the other and to not stop (this was very tempting) so the rest of the pictures are at home after the fact. After the race I was feeling pretty bad and didn't think to take any pictures.
the whole first mile was uphill STEEP uphill. at about .5 mile the 10k leader went blazing past so fast I almost got whiplash. I just kept stumbling along. My asthma was making it very hard to get oxygen while moving, I had to use my inhaler a lot!
this sign was before the first mile marker, what a tease!!! it was evil!!
I was convinced I was going to die and that would be it for me I finally turned a corner and started heading downhill, YAY!
shortly I finally reached mile 1. then I realized it was an out and back race so I'd have to turn around and race right back up that hill, dang it!
the rest of the way down to the aid station was downhill, I saw mom headed back in good spirits and plowed on. as I was approaching the aid station 2 bad things happened. 1. my ipod died. bleh. 2. I pulled out my phone to see what my time was and realized my tracker was set on "elliptical" so I don't know what my pace was or anything. bleh. it took me 28 minutes to reach the halfway point, my worst time ever. I got a sip to drink and turned around to go back uphill. There was a cow right by the aid station mooing at me.
somewhere around mile 2 I saw Marie's smiling face, she was sweeping the course and was very encouraging.
on the way back up the hill I stumbled by a photographer I couldn't even pretend to run. finally I reached the top of that hill then the rest was downhill I tried to run most of it, but my lungs were still very unhappy with me. shortly after mile 2 the half marathon leader blew by me, holy cow! at this point tons and tons of 10k peeps were passing me by. one foot in front of the other. try not to step in a hole. breathe. sheesh all this stuff to do. finally I saw mile 3 and knew it was almost over.
about this point my dad spotted me from up the hill and apparently thought he'd overtake me as I was going S L O W. but that finish line was close and I managed to pull in before him. seeing that arch was soooooo good.
I grabbed a drink, a few chunks of watermelon said hi to a few people then headed home. This course is very hilly, very little shade along the course, but thankfully a nice breeze. all in all I survived, but not by much. I think I did it in right around an hour. I was so tempted to just lie down and roll to the finish, but I managed to go under the arch upright.
5k-
overall #55 Diane Lucas bib #470 2nd in age group 47:22
overall #80 Danni Baird bib #428 7th in age group 59:29 (barely under an hour!)
10k-
overall #80 Allen Lucas bib #266 5th in age group 1:29:51
so happy to see my kids again.
cheese!
wildcat last years goodies to this years
all my bling