For the 4th of July I participated in the 30th Annual Kiwanis Morton Plant Mease Midnight Run 5k. (Morton Plant Mease is a hospital system in Florida.) Before the race I made sure I had napped that day, got real hydrated and ate good carbs the night before the night before (you don't carb up the night before a race, but the night before that).
My parents and I left for the run at 9pm. We had a long drive to get there, and I sang in the car to calm my nerves. My dad was running too and my mom was our cheerleader. I got my race number, timing chip, and a tote bag with fliers from some local businesses and a Cascadian Farms Granola sample in it. I'd been wanting to get a cereal sample in my race packet for it to feel official. My dad always seems to get them, but this is the first time I did. I also picked up my race T-shirt which has a cat on it waving an American Flag. It's cute. I'm glad they had kids' sized T-shirts because I don't need another huge race shirt to sleep in.
We had some time to kill and my mom kept pointing out kids she thought were about my age. To get an age group award I had to come in the top five of 12-13 year old females. We took a potty break at a nearby McDonald's instead of using the port-a-potties. I warmed up with my dad and then went to wait at the starting line while the 1-mile race was taking place.
The start was very crowded and there were many slow people up front. The organizer with the megaphone should have reminded people to stand according to their ability at the starting line, but he didn't. My dad was about four people deep from the starting line and I was about ten people deep. I smelled a lot of smokers around me. The lady next to me said she had been a chain smoker for 20 years and traded that habit for a running addiction instead. She was 54.
They blew the horn to start the race at 11:25 pm and we started running. I was doing great until around 1.5 miles a girl about my age who was next to me in long shorts started screaming that she needed water and flailed around her arms and legs and tripped me. I almost fell, but didn't. I kept on running. She made me angry, which slowed me down. There wasn't any water until 2.5 miles, which was odd, but I don't get water during a race so I didn't care. (I do stop for water when I'm training, but not during a race.) I was doing pretty good until the last half mile I slowed down I tried to break 24 minutes but missed that goal by 20 seconds. That made me sad. My final
official time was 25:19.
My parents were waiting for me at the finish line. I got a lot of water, Gatorade, a weird banana and a gross organic fiber bar. We waited for the 5k finishers and the 10k to start before the awards ceremony. I was pretty sure I placed high, so we sat on the ground right up front waiting for the results. I won FIRST in my age group for the first time!!! My dad got 4th in his age group. We drove home at about 12:45 while the 10k was still racing.
I came home and showered and my mom made me some eggs. We have a special recipe called CRAIG, which is a cross between crepes and scrambled eggs, and I ate that with lots of pure maple syrup on top. I fell asleep like a rock.
I would probably do another night time run. It was still pretty hot and it was not as flat as people kept telling us, and my body isn't used to being awake then, so it's not easy. But it's an adventure! And part of the course was lit by luminary candles, which is pretty. Winning first for my age group was cool. We'll hang the plaque in my bedroom.
Did you run a race last weekend? I hear 4th of July is the biggest running day in the US. Happy Birthday, Free America!
- Alice, The Spirited Kid
Click here to read more of Alice's posts.
hi my sweety, im once again blown away from u and soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo proud to call u my grandaughter,, what a race adn what a winner u r,, cant wait to see u on sunday,, well write a blog together,, love and many kisses your bubba
Posted by: linda freedman | July 13, 2009 at 05:31 AM