Racing with the Fam

Today I ran in the "Panerathon" 5K, a race benefiting the Children's Hunger Alliance. I went in knowing that my training of late has not been as intense as usual, due to my getting through a case of shingles (yuck). So, my goal going in was to come in faster than 25:00 - and I met that goal! So, even though I was 27 seconds slower than my last race, my finish time was a respectable 24:07 -- not amazing, but not too bad either. I was third in my age group, 76th overall.

The race itself was fairly large (560 runners), and many of the runners were quite fit and FAST! I was passed by many runners at the start of the race, but I found my pace and was able to maintain a fairly quick pace through the first two miles, and felt good. Unfortunately, though, I definitely started to feel it in that last mile.

Today was a fun day though - the family came and watched me run! There was even a kids' run in which D decided to participate.
Here are all the kids lined up and ready to go ... D is in the middle of this melee.

She was very excited before the race started. She told me, "Sometimes I get tired when I run, and then I have to walk." I told her that was OK.
And she's off! That's D on the far right.
D ran fast! It was billed as a quarter mile fun run, but that was the shortest quarter mile ever! It was more like a quarter of a quarter-mile (or, as my husband says, an eighth of a mile).
Afterward, she got a medal. She was very proud of herself, and we were proud of her too! I thought she would be excited about the medal, but she whispered to me, "Mommy, EVERYBODY got a medal." I guess she realizes what Dash in the Incredibles movie realized when told that everyone is special: "which is another way of saying no one is."
While I was running, D&G visited the various booths around the area, including the SWAT team (note the helmet and goggles), firefighters, Columbus Zoo, Ohio Wildlife Center, the Blue Jackets, Columbus Crew and others. A great time was had by all!