To the River and Back

On April 26th, Andrea and her best friend Ashley, Brian and I all ran a 5K race in Lawrence, Kansas to benefit the Lawrence Community Nursery School, more commonly known as the "Little Red Schoolhouse".

Brian, me and Andrea right before the race. I am number "11".

Brian, Andrea and Ashley.

Sign in front of the schoolhouse advertising the race.

I took this picture at the beginning of the race before the pack and pulled ahead and left me helplessly behind.

You can tell I took this picture at the beginning of the race because Andrea is still smiling. Near the end, she was less joyful and heard to mutter, "Who's stupid idea was this?"

About half way through the race when I reached the Kansas river. If you look closely you can see runners way, way ahead of me.

Who planned this race route? The race crossed railroad tracks and we had to stop for 4-5 minutes to allow the train to pass. Some were mad but I appreciated the break.

Andrea at the end of the race.

The finish line.

Ashley crossing the finish line.

Andrea and Brian in line for all you can eat pancakes. Everyone who ran got a free breakfast. The last thing I wanted to do after running 3.1 miles was eat. However, it didn't seem to deter Brian from making the most of a free meal.

I ended up coming in 33rd. My goal was to run the 3.1 miles in under 40 minutes which I basically accomplished. My official time was 40 minutes, 20 seconds (about thirteen minute miles). I imagine if not for the train I probably would have been slightly below 40 minutes--maybe 38 or 39 minutes. Next time, I will train a little more.

Neither Andrea, Ashley, Brian or I had ran (or even walked) for three weeks prior to the race. Amazingly, I was not sore at all the next day. I guess I need to push myself a little more next time. I would be more motivated if the prize at the end of the race was to pet kittens or all you can drink Pepsi, instead of all you can eat pancakes.

We did all get nice black T-shirts with a picture of a flaming tennis shoe to commemorate our participation. What more could you want?