Ok, here it is- my August 14 5K report: the good, bad, and the ugly.
It was a lovely August day on the Vineyard- mid 70's, low humidity, sunny. A perfect summer day. The race didn't start until 10:30, so we had plenty of time in the morning to eat breakfast and relax before race time. No coffee for me, though, cuz I think that messed with my rhythm in the last race (racing heartbeat, etc).
On our way to meet our friends, we were approached by the local police in a not-very-friendly manner explaining (well, yelling), that we couldn't go down that road and we had to turn around RIGHT NOW. Ok, dude- chill. Who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?
Made our way to said friend's house, which was near the end of the race, the check-in point, and the bussing area (you had to be bussed to the start line if you didn't want to walk out 5K). On our way to check in, we passed a lovely man setting up sound, who very angrily growled at us "Come on- move it along now- HURRY UP!". Ok. We were in his way for about 0.02 seconds- but I guess his time is just that valuable.
Checked in- got our numbers and chips (a first for me) and made our way back to the bussing area. Passed cranky-pants sound dude again- now he had a friend! Both of them made it a point to shout at us "You need to put your chips on! Get in line for the bus!". Dudes. Chill. There must have been a serious pissing contest in the Wheaties this morning. And we weren't the only people lucky enough to interact with these guys- every one of the 2000 racers had to pass by them, so we heard plenty of other people getting harrassed, too
WTH did they care if we forgot to use our chips, anyways? So we wouldn't get an official time- that hurts them how?
Now we're in line for the buses. There are eleventy million people waiting to be bussed- MANY of them after us. We're looking at the time and thinking that there's no way this race starts on time.
Buses drop us off about 0.7 miles from the start line (I should've just walked- would've been quicker than waiting for the bus) and we make our way to our spots. Then we wait. And wait. And wait some more. I'm looking at the clock (Jeremy's- I forgot my watch- more on that later) and thinking: "I could've run 5 miles, lifted weights, and been sitting on my deck drinking coffee by now- why exactly did I sign up for this?" This was the general consensus of everyone around us. Ok, so why is this race SOOOO popular, then? How does it sell out every year? Rude volunteers, long waits, huge crowds- I guess I'm missing the charm. Maybe they're all there just to see Jake Gylenhaal.
Ok- now for the actual race itself. At the timely hour of 11:15 the starting gun goes off. I'm about 2/3 of the way towards the back (that's usually my pace with these things), so I trudge along for a seemingly looooong time to get to the starting line. I don't have my watch, but I'm chipped, so at least I'll know my official time from that.
The run itself was actually lovely. It was a gorgeous day, along a gorgeous route. I had a lot of fun. That's probably because I started off slllloooooowwww, due to my problems in my last 5K. I actually loved the hills. I'm so much better with hills than straightaways- I HATE being able to see a long distance in front of me. It makes the run seem soooooo much longer. This run was fun- up and down, up and down, over and over until the last downhill where I booked it. Crossed the finish line and the clock read 37:00. Wow. I WAS slow. Well, it took awhile to get to the start line, so some of that will come off when they release the chip times. Maybe.
Well, now the results are posted online- and the only time they give is clock time
WTH was the point of the chips if they're not going to use them? Oh well. I may have been super slow and I definitely didn't break any records, but my love of running is rekindled and I'm ready for some more 15 mile weeks
I can honestly say, that I will never, ever run this race again. It was expensive ($30) and such a freaking proceedure to just run 3 freaking miles. Jeez. Next year I'll run early in the morning and set up tailgaiting in our friend's driveway to cheer on the poor saps that spent $30 to be hearded like cattle and yelled at. I may even heckle the sound guy
There you have it folks- likely my last race report for awhile. I'm not the racing type, I've found. I do much better time-wise and workout-wise on my own. I thought races would motivate me to improve my running, but in fact it's the opposite. So I'll take a break for awhile, and plan on my next race being something like a 10K so I can focus more on distance. I'm definitely not giving up running though- my little break reminded me of how fun it can be