Race for the Pinks 5k

So, I said I was going to slow down, but when I came home from the Minnie weekend, I was feeling good and decided that was an arbitrary decision...

The Race for the Pinks was the weekend after Minnie. The race was organized by a service league in town. I'm embarassed to admit I dropped out of the league this year. Nice people, but too much drama.

So, I had mixed emotions on this race. On the one hand, there was a possibility there would be a good turnout so I wouldn't be dead last and it was for a good cause; on the other hand, it felt slightly tacky to go to the race after dropping out of the group. Ultimately, I decided it didn't matter.

My plan was to wake up Saturday and decide if I wanted to go or not. I woke up, decided I had nothing better to do, and then for the first time ever, loaded up the stroller and took Harry to the race. It's always bothered me that Harry experiences the boring training runs, but never the races, and they didn't list any stroller restrictions.

Harry and I registered with about ten minutes to spare. Being no fool, I took off his shoes and socks. He protested, so I explained that I didn't want him to throw them off while I was running. He looked shocked, and demanded "I wanna run!" I had to move quickly to distract him! We lined up in the very back and waited for the start.

I forgot to mention there were pink balloons everywhere and blaring music. Why is it always blaring 80s music at races?!

We took off through downtown. Harry crossed his arms behind his head and just kicked back. Cops were there blocking the roads, so there was tons of room for us even with the stroller. I fell back to about an 11 minute pace. As usual, by about the two mile mark, I finally warmed up enough that I wasn't miserable. I gave Harry a cup of water from one of the stops (I had my own- beauty of taking a stroller!). He poured it all over himself.

The last mile, I began passing some people. I felt a little guilty- who wants to be passed by a stroller?! At least I didn't look too obviously pregnant, I think. I had on my WISH shirt, so I could inspire as I was passing...

It was a perfectly marked race until the last couple of blocks. There was a turn that was missing a sign. That's the beauty of not being in the lead. I saw people headed back in my direction and knew something was up. (Some of the really fast runners were mad about it, which I understand since it threw off their times, but it was a shame it had to happen in an otherwise great race).

Finally reached the finish. Our time was 32:xx. Considering I was responsible for 3 people if you include Harry and GoofyBaby, not a bad time. We went to grab some water and a banana. They had turned on the sprinklers in the park by the finish. Good idea in theory, but when you went to get your water, your shoes and shorts got soaked (not to mention poor Harry in the stroller!) Harry of course took the banana.

We stood around the finish clapping for people. Okay, I was clapping and Harry was eating his banana. In my experience, no one cheers unless you are at Disney. What is up with that?!

Oh, and Harry really wanted to run the 1 mile fun run. Can a 2 year old run or walk 1 mile?! I can't imagine he could last that long, and I'd hate to have to carry him. I think I may try taking him on a few walks to see just how far he can go. I'm guessing my boy's more of a sprinter, but how long remains to be seen...