4K on the 4th Race Report.

Well, it finally happened. I was dead last in the race this morning. Oddly enough I'm okay with that. I thought I'd be upset, but I'm not. I just got it out of the way I suppose. I even got a prize for being last.

BUBBLES!

They called it the Perseverance Award, but I’m calling it my Dead Last Is Out Of The Way Now (and it better never happen again) Award. The race was held by 3C Race Productions. It was a small race but you could tell these people really love their company and they were a lot of fun. I even had my own personal coach for the last half-mile of the race.

Hi Nick.

 That guy has so much energy. He was still running a half hour after the race while we were in the parking lot chatting. If I could, I would hire him as my personal running coach. (Call me.)

The course started on grass, then onto pavement, then onto a trail, then back to the grass for the finish. I was looking forward to the grass and trail because I’ve been having problems my shins while running on pavement. As it turns out, I don’t really like running on grass either. It was uneven and I was nervous about turning an ankle or something. Once I got on the pavement, I started feeling twinges in my shins, but nothing strong enough to stop me. I had plans to run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute. For some reason, I cannot do this outside. A few days ago, I finally was able to run for 3 minutes straight, but it was on the treadmill, not outside. So I’ve gotten over the time frame of 3 minutes hump, but now I need to get over the running for more than 1 minute outside hump. Although, now that I think about it, last week I was only able to run for 30-45 seconds outside and today I was doing 1-minute intervals. So I guess that’s progress right?

I saw this sign along the way at the time, it made me pause and ponder it. Now, I realized I wasted 10 seconds! But it’s a good message.

It says: "He, who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish little in life"
Small print at the bottom: "Risk running as fast as you can for as long as you can"

As I was nearing the finish line, I saw a guy standing out by the orange cones marking the course. I was probably 200-300 feet away from him. He started clapping for me, and kept clapping until I came up onto him. I told him that I was the last one and he could start collecting the cones. He said “You must be Sara!” and then he started running with me. It was my coach, Nick! I thought it was funny that he kept clapping that entire time, so I took a picture of him doing it.

Of course you can't tell he was clapping in the picture,
but I assure you, he was! I'm clap-worthy!

As I was about to cross the finish line, the announcer said my name and that he had a prize for me. 

I think that excitement is because I knew I was getting
a prize and not because I was finally finished.

I had joked at the beginning of the race that there should be a prize for the fastest last place runner on the new 4K course. Either they felt bad for me, or they just had extra kids prizes left over from the kids races. Either way, I got a prize. And who doesn’t love bubbles? I also won a raffle item. It was a $15 gift certificate to Road ID. I’m stoked, because I’ve been wanting to get a Road ID bracelet for a while and now I have $15 off!  I also have a $2 off coupon from my race bib today. Hopefully I can combine them and get a really good deal!

A few of my triathlon training friends drove up from MA and met me at the race. I’m glad they came. Even though we didn’t run together (me=slow; them=not slow) it was nice to have them there and it makes races more fun when you’re with people that you know!

Before the race 

After the race. Oddly enough, we look happier.

Oh and the race t-shirts were really nice tech shirts.

I got two shirts because there were extras.
My second shirt has "Concord, NH" on it.
Strange.

This race also had a big array of samples like balance bars, SunButter packets, Vitamin C gummies, Ironman muscle rub, shave gel, shampoo/conditioner sample packs, and $10 off coupons for Sports Authority. I got plenty of each. Thanks guys! And it had, by far, the largest variety of refueling food for after the race. They had bananas, bagels & cream cheese, grapes, cherries, and tons of water. Most races have one or two things. These guys, stocked up. The race was supposed to be a lot larger, but due to a new big race in Manchester starting this weekend, they lost a lot of participants. They said there were about 100 people but I think there was less. Maybe 50-70. I guess I’ll find out when the race results are posted online and my name is dead last. (I’m okay with this, I swear.)

Over all, this was a great race. I’m glad I went and now I’m looking forward to the Dog Days of Summer 5K race in 2 weeks, also hosted by 3C Race Productions. 4K on the 4th (on the 3rd) is a definite 2 thumps up, Sara approved race.