ARR South Mountain Classic 5K 2011

5th race in 2011: 3/26/2011, AZ Road Racers South Mountain Classic 5K, Phoenix, AZ.

Well, I had planned to run the 20K; I even signed up before Geyer! Shortly after I signed up, I arranged for Saturday bus transportation for the LCK Cross Country team and asked another teacher to chaperone the students running the 5K while I was running the 20K race. The kids filled out their paperwork and they were officially registered for the FREE race. But the bum foot changed everything for me! See previous post when Dr. H. trampled all over my dream to finish in 1:30!!

So instead, on this beautiful, perfectly cool Saturday morning, five (5) students and I met early at the school and took off in the bus at 6:45 A.M. We arrived with plenty of time before the start. I ran the Lincoln YMCA Half Marathon last October so I was familiar with the layout and the parking was plentiful. I had talked with Jeff around 6:30 so I hoped to see him before the 20K started at 7:30. James parked the bus, we walked to the registration area to pick up our race bibs and Melissa (teacher), James (bus driver) and I attached race bibs to front of shirts and looped timing chips through shoelaces. I kept looking for Jeff -- no luck yet and it was almost 7:30. The kids needed a potty break and then we ran into each other. He looked excited, full of Bieber-fever and I was teary-eyed inside. :( Anyway, the 20K started and Jeff took off. James took a few pictures and then shot a quick, candid, hilarious video of the team before 5K started.

We took off along this open course with a gradual incline until the turnaround. As usual, the students sprinted out of the gate and I was advised to walk. It was strange to walk at the back of the pack. Luckily my foot did well and I had my music player to keep me moving! I was able to walk at a decent clip and passed a few people...that felt good. As I headed up the last hill before the turnaround, Christopher passed me coming down the hill and he looked great, a nice pace. Melissa passed me shortly after, followed by Frank and Carlos. Carlos had shoelace troubles, otherwise he would have been closer to Chris. Now I was just waiting to meet the last 2 students, the extremely social girls on the team! I saw them at the top of the hill, they were winded and rejoiced at walking with me for the second half. At one point, they told me, "You walk too fast!" Hilarious!! We got to the last stretch, with maybe 0.1 mile to the finish line, and I was itching to run. Our teammates were waiting on the sidelines and I encouraged the girls to run it in. I finished in 50 minutes, 19 out of 20 in my age group, definitely my worst race though injured, but 1 second faster than the 12yo on our team! Then we enjoyed the FREE snacks (including oreos and soda at a race...WTF?) and also watched other people finish their race. I ran into Derek, a really fast runner/hiker, after he finished the 20K in 1:37...ridiculous!

We ate while we waited for race results to be posted. Christopher finished in 29:27, Melissa 34:23, Frank 39:10, Carlos 39:40, and the girls with me. Christopher finished 7 minutes faster than the February race...such a gifted runner and only in 6th grade! Despite the injury, a fun day. :D