Bobbi Welch and I ran both races. She ran the Clear Water Outdoor trail race with a friend on her friend's first 10 K. It is so fun to be involved with other runners on their "firsts." Little did I know that Bobbi planned to race the Kenosha 10K!
We were the only ones from our running club that we know of that raced in Kenosha. There were several other Turkey Trots around boasting beautiful courses and great swag. We went the way of the mothers of many children, cheap. The course ran through part of the Wisconsin Marathon course on the way up to Carthage College and back. I have run the Wisconsin Half Marathon twice, including its inaugural year. It's a flat course by the lake. If you're not racing and get a chance to look up, it's fairly pretty.
There was no race day registration so all we had to do was pick up our packets. The shirts are cute, and I was pleasantly surprised to find no turkey on the front. Bobbi was sporting the Clear Water Outdoor's Turkey Trot shirt which draws a little more attention. I heard a woman along the way say, "Oooh, that's green!" Since there was no race day registration, we got great parking, were able to go to the inside bathrooms twice, and stayed warm until the race started. It was a Thanksgiving Day miracle.
So Bobbi let's me know that she wants to see if she can finish in under an hour. Wha! Um. Okay. I'm slow. I enjoy a good plod, especially when I am planning to use all my energy to eat pie later. Bobbi's an amazing runner who has come a long way in short time. As a busy mother of four, she's inspirational. And she's driven. I thought that the least I could do was hang on for as long as I could, which turned out to be for four miles. That's when I had to just watch the green lantern shine out in front of me. I played chase with another woman for the last two miles. Every time I got in the corner of this woman's eye, she would take off. Honestly, after a while it was fun to run up to her just to see her take off. For her energy spurts, I was willing to flex my pie muscles.
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| My homemade T Day shirt: Will run for some pie! |
Bobbi finished in 1:00:21. It's not under an hour, but it is a PR. I finished in 1:01:26, and that is a PR. One of my students asked me after the first Turkey Trot if I won. I laughed and said that I finished. Then I said, "Yes, I won. That's winning to me." When I watch the Chicago Marathon, there are elite winners that finish while I'm still eating breakfast, and then there are the rest of the winners who cross the finish line for hours and hours. That's part of the joy of running. Every finisher is a winner. A job done. A goal completed. I have a few race medals and shirts that say 'Finisher.' I understand all the shirts can't say 'Winner,' but I know 'Finisher' really means 'I Won!'
It was such a great day! I loved running with you, and it was great to come so close to my goal (even if I missed it by a smidge)...
ReplyDeleteI was brighter than I remember, wasn't I? ;)