Saturday, March 6, 2010. 3,367 people participated in the 33rd annual Carolina First REEDY RIVER RUN in downtown Greenville.
On Saturday morning, along with 2,069 other people in downtown Greenville, I ran my first official 5K! I just started running in October (simply to help ease my anxiety) so finishing this race was a huge accomplishment for me. I finished in 36:08 minutes, placing #663rd out of 1,204 women (or #1,339 out of 2,069 total 5K runners.)
Considering that fact that I was always the last-one-picked for teams in elementary gym class, and also that I’m turning 40 this year, I don’t think that’s too shabby. I was just happy to finish.
Lest you think I’ve turned into some great athlete, here are some of the thoughts that crossed my mind as I was running this (what seemed like endless) course.
1. why are all these little kids passing me?
2. am I really going to make it up this hill?
3. why aren’t there any ambulances out?
4. where am I going to go to the bathroom? I wonder if this lady walking her dog will take me to her house and let me use hers.
5. have I finished mile 1 yet?
6. it looks so cool seeing this street completely filled with people.
7. where is mile 2?
8. down hill… finally!
9. today is a Saturday, why am I not at home and in bed?
10. hey, I’m passing 4 college-age guys. maybe my slow pace but consistent training is paying off.
11. I hope my heart doesn’t stop before this is over. if it does, at least I “go-out” doing something interesting.
12. I wonder what that policeman would say if I asked him for a ride to the finish line.
13. wow. look at all those people cheering us on.
14. mile 3 sign, I LOVE YOU!
15. holy Cow… I actually made it! Whoo-hoo!
16. now I seriously need some oxygen, and to get away from all these thousands of people crowded together. 17. this is WAY too claustrophobic for my taste…
18. I’m so glad this is over! 🙂
Here’s some more photos of the event:
I thought these three women had on the most creative matching outfits. (I also saw some very fit men who were dressed in matching salmon colored running tights/tops. I guess they were some professional team of racers trying to qualify for the olympic team in the 10K. They looked pretty serious. I made sure to stay out of their way.)
I love this fountain.
Here's my husband Tim, and my friend Rochelle (who was visiting us over the weekend from Milwaukee) before they do the 10K. Tim has run several 1/2 marathon's, so the 10K was a piece of cake for him. Rochelle has (get this...) COMPLETED AN IRON MAN, so the 10k was just a nice "run in the park" for her too.
Here I am with Rochelle before the race. The 10K started at 9:00am but the 5K didn't start until 9:20am. It was a little chilly waiting around. I purposely wore my Bluffton Arts and Seafood Festival t-shirt so that nobody would mistake me for a serious runner. 🙂
Just after the 1,298 10K maniac runners took off running.
Killing time before the 5K starts. Here's the little chip they give you for your shoe, so that they can time how long it takes you. Pretty cool, hey?!
I love how blue the sky was this morning.
Purple Pansies! (I'm pretty sure I was the only race participant photographing flowers this morning.)
Lots of restrooms on the street got plenty of use.
Here we are on Saturday evening in our matching T-shirts (which was the whole point of the weekend, as far as I was concerned.) Nathan ran the Kids' Fun Run on Friday night. He got the same shirt, PLUS a cool medal.
We're all going out for Thai food to celebrate our big accomplishment. I insisted on wearing my T-shirt since I worked so hard to earn it. (On a another note... the house shown behind me is for sale. It's quite beautiful inside and directly across the street from our house. Won't you be my neighbor... 🙂 )
I hadn’t even scrolled down to your caption yet before I noticed the realtor sign in the yard. Nice place and even nicer neighbors! 🙂
I hope they didn’t move out because of us! They actually moved into our neighborhood over a year ago before their house had sold. At Christmas it still hadn’t sold so they decided to move back. I guess all their friends and family are still in that area. I still kind of feel like we let them down as neighbors.
I love that you are doing a post about your first 5K race and you have time to snap some pretty cool pix. Congrats!
Who do you think gave me the idea? YOU are the master of simultaneously running and tweeting! I even noticed your little phone/camera on your daily mile profile pic. Thanks for your creative inspiration all these years…
woohoo! That is awesome. You look like you had fun! I wish I could have done it with you guys, I am starting to get ready for the Danskin Tri again this year (if I don’t break my wrist again!)
It was pretty fun! We’re doing another race on May 7 in our little town of Travelers Rest. I think that will be less crowded, which I’ll like much better. Maybe you should fly down THAT weekend and run it with us! http://www.go-greenevents.com/SwampRabbit5k The hospital is sponsoring it. That’s so amazing to me that you do the Danskin. You’re such a woman! 🙂
I just completed my first 5k too! This is awesome. Congrats!
Good for you!! Doesn’t it feel great to accomplish that?? I hope you got a cool shirt. 🙂 My husband is training for his first marathon this fall. Which is over EIGHT 5K’s in a row all at once. That is a little over ambitious if you ask me.