Packet pickup at Jailbreak Brewing was a little bit of a mess. Apparently some people before us had some issues with the registration process and all of the volunteers at the table had to get involved. When it was our turn to get our packets and shirts, the brewery was super crowded so rather than getting a pint, we went home. Once we got home I looked through our bags, I realized I received the wrong size shirt. (This is the first time this has happened, and admittedly I should've checked before I left the brewery but I wanted to get out of there.) No big deal, I could try to exchange it in the morning.
The next morning, my husband and I arrived at the race at my usual hour early so there would be enough time to go to the bathroom and exchange my shirt. There was still plenty of parking in the Boys and Girls club lot. When we got in line to exchange my shirt, a volunteer who was directing everyone to the correct line noticed I just wanted to trade out my shirt. She approached me, asked what size I needed, walked to the boxes and traded it out for me immediately. I thanked her profusely because the lines were getting long, and we headed back to the car to drop off the shirt and keep warm for a few minutes before checking out the bathroom situation then went back to the car for a little while longer.
About 5 minutes before the gun was scheduled to go off, we lined up for the start. I was determined to make this into a fast training run, potentially finally hitting my sub-30 5k. The course was fairly hilly--there was one pretty much immediately after the first turn, but after that it was mostly smaller, less intimidating hills. Just before the halfway point the road came to a paved trail and right where the course turned there was a water stop. If you blinked you would've missed it because it was one person with a cup of water in each hand. By the time I realized it was the water stop, it wasn't worth turning around so I kept going. The trail seemed like it would be nice under different circumstances because for the race, it was pretty crowded. There was another hill going up from the trail into a neighborhood and from there to the finish it was gently going uphill. (It looked mostly flat as you were running it.)
Once I crossed the finish and stopped my Garmin I looked at my time--30:20. So close to a sub-30, so initially I was frustrated. But after getting my medal, catching up with some running friends I hadn't seen for awhile, having some water, post-race snacks, and watching my husband cross the finish I started feeling a little better. That race was surprisingly hilly. Finishing in the time that I did was pretty good, and I still had another chance to get my sub-30 in a couple weeks.
Overall, I'm torn about this race. Packet pickup did not go well and the water stop on the course was bizarre. But the race benefits a great cause (social services for the underserved in Laurel) and it was really close to home which doesn't happen often. However with Thanksgiving being one of the biggest running days of the year, I'm willing to keep my options open for 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment