This was our second year running this one. We were disappointed we forgot to wear pioneer bonnets as planned! Some people run all decked out in pioneer garb. Kind of fun. Anyway, we arranged for Katy to come and tend the kids while we ran, as we recalled a lot of the course being uphill. And yes, we were both glad not to be pushing a heavy stroller and two heavy kids. But they were still there to join in the fun - including a bounce house, an impromptu kids race, and a hot air balloon ride! It was quite the morning.
As if all of that wasn't exciting enough, with 6:51 min/miles I actually placed 1st woman overall! (If there wasn't a 10k as well then surely a few others would have beat me. Glad I did the 5k! There were 267 runners, not sure how many were women. I was 13th overall. See full results here.) At mile 2 I passed a woman but still had no idea I was leading. I felt great and pushed myself up the hill to pass two guys. It was so fun to run through the finish line where Matt and Jack were taking pictures. (They were the hired professionals.)
Jonny ran a super fast one too, even though this is not an easy course. He came in 2nd in his division and 7th overall. Taj Mecham beat him by 9 seconds! It was fun to visit with Taj and catch up on their little family. Hopefully next time Meg will be running this one too - when she doesn't have a two week old baby! As you can see from the top picture, Dad, Mom, Grandma, and Cami placed in their divisions as well. Not a bad day for the fam, huh?
The kids run was just right for Julia. It was super short and she didn't miss the hot air balloon lift because of it. (She was very nervous about that. We left the boys in line while she and I hurried over to make it to the kids race. She ran fast! A "fire balloon" ride was on the line, after all.)
And as it turns out, it pays to run fast. Not only did I set a new loop course PR that is faster than my current downhill PR, but I received a $50 check and a nice watch. Sweet! It's not every day I place overall. So that was pretty fun.(I'm not sure how I ran this one faster than the downhill Pony Express Days?! But I'm down with it. I just don't know that I will beat this RP anytime soon, if ever. Only time will tell...)
Gabe cried in the balloon. He didn't like the heat and loud sounds. Julia loved it.
The Race Photographers
Check out their awesome photos here.
1 comment:
Great pictures! I love the one of Julia running. She was taking it ever so seriously.
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