Bet you never thought I'd be a runner!

The cotton row run was yesterday.  It has long been the challenge for all good runners to attempt the 10K, partly uphill run.  We(Robin and I)did the 5K.  I am not a seasoned runner, although I have "participated" in 2 other 5K runs BK(before kids).  I always like to give a detailed description of the sights, smells, sounds, etc. of the adventures in my life, so if you want the short version I came in 852, not last in my age group , at a time of 37min 41sec.  

Here goes the detailed description:  We arrived downtown around 7:50.  Race time was 9:00 and we were told to arrive 1 hour early for parking.  We had a nice warm up walk to the "action".  The 10K started at 7:00 and there were many that had finished and were hanging around the snack area.  What I thought was a nice size parking lot beside the Civic Center had been transformed into a socializing, recovery and snack area for "seasoned" runners.  We, both having 4 children even though none of them were with us, felt it necessary to go to the bathroom.  Both of us noticed a distinct "odor" as we made our way through the crowd and back from the bathroom.  I think I made a comment that "if anybody with their nasty, sweaty, 10K selves rubs up against me, I might scream".  I'm not normally a squeamish to sweat type person, but this was yucky!  We made our way to the finish area to watch the rest of the runners finish the big race.  We sat in the shade and discussed how out of shape everybody around us looked.  Yeah, we fit in!  A little before the race is to start, Robin suggests we go to the bathroom.  Did I mention we didn't have any kids with us?    So we line up on the starting line and wait for the announcer to tell us the history of the race, play taps and sing "God Bless America".  While I'm listening to all this I notice a petite, older pregnant lady.  Ok, so my first thought was "I hope I can beat her."  Robin sees her and says hello.  Come to find out, she is 42 and pregnant with her 12th child.  Yep, not a typo, 12th child.  Yep, I've got her beat.  That's one.  So the race starts and I've got to say we were getting passed left and right.  Mostly younger (20ish) people.  We wanted to pace ourselves so that we could cross the finish line at a nice trot.  I think we ran the first 1.2 miles and then we walked.  Of course, our husbands and kids got to see us WALK by.  You guys couldn't have planned that a little better?  Well I'm not sure I would call it walking.  It was easier for me to jog beside Robin than keep up walking.  It was a little toasty so we did run through a sprinkler in our white t-shirts.  We are such show offs!!  So we ran off and on until we turned the corner back onto Clinton.  As we are heading down the home stretch I notice on my watch, which I have totally messed up timing myself by this point, that we have been running a little under 39 minutes.  Uh oh, I've got to get to the finish in 1 minute PG(personal goal).  We see our families cheering us on and I'm thinking Ben is about to win our bet.  So I take off, possibly sprinting.  I don't think Robin and I discussed how we would approach the finish.  All I could see was the finish line and all I could hear was the gagging behind me.  I look back to see Robin and she has her hand over her mouth.   I'd like to say I slowed down, but the clock was ticking.  As it turns out my watch was really off and we finished a little under 38 minutes.  We had to stop at the finish and have the timer sensor removed from our shoes(kids with scissors).  Robin is hurdling kids with scissors to get to the side because her hand isn't holding it in anymore.  I snatch the scissors from the kid on the end and remove her sensor as she runs off to the bathroom.  Just a note, the sensors are a $30 souvenir.  Most important to turn them in.  Well we find our families and enjoy a little soda, grab 2 small pizzas, and  7 or so ice cream cups.  I love free food.  However, my girls couldn't eat any of it because being the mean, terrible mother I am, I signed them up for the fun run.  One mile of torture!!  The girls did great.  Hayden has been part of the running club at school and was able to run almost the whole thing.  However, Ally did not care if 2 year olds passed her or if people were cheering her on to run; now that I think about it, maybe she misunderstood.  Did she think we were part of a parade?  She seemed to like strolling past the people cheering us on.  She did finish big with a sprint to the end.  Then we got more pizza because my dear husband had too much to carry with the stroller and threw out the first pizza.  (He needs more practice!)  At this point I must say I am starting to fit in with the stinky folks.  So we load up and head to Nina's pool.  

I'm sure you're wondering how the pregnant lady did.  

She beat us . . . by 10 minutes.  She also did the 1 mile fun run with her kids.  I'm sure I beat her in that and since they don't record the times nobody will ever know!!!