When the alarm went off at 6:40 a.m. on Sunday morning, I must admit I wasn’t in the mood to crawl out of bed and run 6.2 miles. It was still dark outside and sleeping in sounded awfully appealing, but once I started getting ready, I began to feel the pre-race excitement. It never fails!
Since the race took place on St. Patrick’s Day, Ryan, Leslie, Ross and I made sure to dress festive for the occasion!
Lots of the runners and walkers got into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit and dressed in green. It was fun to check out some of the more creative outfits as we ran. I loved it!
We arrived with little time to spare and quickly picked up our race bibs before rushing over to the start line just as the gun went off.
Leslie and Ross did the 5K together and Ryan and I ran the 10K. The 10K course was identical to the 5K course (both races started at the same time), and meandered through the beautiful, shady Evergreen Cemetery. The 10K runners simply ran the 5K loop two times.
I forgot my Garmin at home, so my original plan to take a laid back approach to this race and run just for fun was even easier since I wasn’t tempted to check my pace on my running watch. Ryan matched my pace the whole time and it was fun to have a running buddy. The race itself was rather congested at the start and our first mile was pretty slow, but eventually we fell into a groove and had fun chatting throughout the run. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and the atmosphere was relaxed and fun.
Ryan and I crossed the finish line together in 55:43 (8:58 min./mi pace).
The post-race celebration included delicious cinnamon crunch Panera bagels and water.
It was a fun way to kick off St. Patrick’s Day!
Harry & David Giveaway Winner
Congratulations to…
- Nikki: “Looks amazing!! I love carrot cake and my dad loves cheesecake! This is a perfect combo for us so I would bring this to Easter to share with my family.”
Please email me with your mailing address and we’ll get the carrot cake cheesecake to you right away!
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Great socks!
Your outfits looked great! Even for a laid back run…8:58 is a great time!! 🙂 I can completely understand the constant urge to look at my Garmin, and I also find it refreshing when I decide to run without it or forget it all together. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
It was a fun race!
love your pics, too cute! I am craving a fun run now!
Looks like a fun race! Running with a good group of friends probably makes the whole experience so much better!
I love your outfit. It’s so much fun and the tie is very creative. I wore orange to my race and stuck out like crazy… not really sure what I was thinking.
I just love themed races. It feels like everyone gets even more excited to dress up and be silly 😀
Nice work on the tie, my friend!
I love fun races where there is no pressure- for me that’s always obstacle races, they’re the best 🙂
Just had to tell you – I ran my first half marathon Sunday and a BIG inspiration was your blog and running story!!! So thank you 🙂 Now i definitely have a special place in my heart for st. patty’s day races – lots of fun!
i am so excited for you! congrats!!!