"You want to do what? Two races in one day?!", asked my wife Christine. I saw no problem with it, but obviously, she needed some convincing. "Well", I said, "The first race will be kind of a warm up. And it's really important because it's the Girls on the Run 5k." We have four daughters, who are a bit too young for the program, but we think it's a great thing for them to be exposed to. "The second one", I continued, "is a really unique sounding run on a horse racing track in Crete."
She wasn't buying it. This would mean spending almost the entire Saturday consumed in running. And while she enjoys running, she didn't really want to commit a whole day to it. By Friday afternoon, however, she had warmed to the idea, and suggested we go ahead and do them both. The morning run would be for our daughters, and the afternoon run would be for us.
It was a great plan, and it only got better when we learned later that night that my niece was running her first race ever with my sister at the Girls on the Run event. So we brought the whole family to Montrose Harbor the next morning. We even invited my brother along to help watch the kids while we were running,
We jumped in the race toward the front and quickly found ourselves surrounded by young girls enjoying their first races. Their enthusiasm and excitement were contagious. Girls on the Run is a great program that helps improve not only a girl's physical health, but her self-confidence.
As we neared the two mile mark in the 5k, I saw my sister and niece on the other side of the path, just
coming up on the first mile. I doubled back and started running with them. My niece was struggling a bit, but with her mother's encouragement, she kept it up. When she finished and got her medal, she was beaming! Congratulations Alyssa!
My wife and I finished as well, running pretty easily. But our day was far from over. We got the kids fed and back home with little chance to rest before heading to our second race.
Our approach to this race was much different. We arrived in plenty of time to warm up, get our numbers, and get in the right mental frame of mind. I wasn't sure how I would feel, but as I warmed up, I felt good, so I decided to give it a go, and try to run a fast time.
It was a small race, with just a couple hundred runners. As a started on back edge of the lead pack, I was thankful for that. It was not crowded, and there were just enough runners to make it interesting. I hoped to run under 20 minutes, and as I passed the first mile in 6:18, I could tell I was on a pace even a little faster than that. It was hot and a little windy though, and I slowed down quite a bit in my second mile.
The course wound around the outside perimeter of the track, and then back around onto the track itself. It was truly unique experience. While we were racing, there were also some harness race horses going through their paces on the outside of the track. And in the final straight away, I felt like one of the horses surging for the finish line.
When I hit the line, I was thrilled to see I managed to hold on well enough to break 20:00. By two seconds! Then I quickly turned my attention to the race still finishing. My wife was nearing the finish and had her own goals she hoped to reach.
She had a strong finish, and we walked over to the post race party to recover and
celebrate. And once we got there, we were in for a surprise. As they announced the age group winners, my wife's name was called for second place! She had never won a medal for a race before, and it was a really nice treat for her. And to add to the fun, I also got a second place medal for my age group.
As we drove back home, tired but happy, she had a smile on her face. And she was already talking about next year's races!
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