Bear Down 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run

Okay, I'm going to have to brag a bit on Olivia. She did such a great job at the Bear Down fun run this morning. This is only the third 1-miler that she has done, and she just keeps on impressing me. As you can probably see in this first picture- she was the youngest (by far) to enter the race. She didn't push her way to the starting line, and when the horn sounded, she didn't take off at break-neck speed. I just knew that she was going to finish last...







..but she didn't. She actually finished 24th (of about 40 entrants). These are not little kids we're talking about either. As she was coming down the home stretch, she was running ahead of two older kids and an adult (Not counting Brian- who was running backwards to give her some last minute encouragment). She ran the entire distance herself. Brian said that she doesn't run fast, but she keeps an even pace and keeps going when others give out. Officially, Olivia was competing in the 10 and under age division, so she didn't really have a chance to receive an award. I think that she was a little bummed not to get a medal, but I ended up getting one in the 5K and gave mine to her.

Olivia wasn't the only one who ran today. I finally talked Quincy into running a 5K with me. She ran well and finished second in her age division. I ended up being the only competitor in my age group, so I got first. My time was 28.48, which is slower than I ran two weeks ago. I'm not upset, though, because it was a lot hotter this morning than it has been.

Summer Running

I don't run much during the summers because it is too hot. Actually, there aren't many races to enter because nobody wants to run in the sweltering heat. I do try to hit the treadmill at the Y a couple of times a week during the summer, but I can only run about two miles. I don't want to hog the treadmill for long periods of time while there are other people wanting to get on it. To be honest, I haven't been in top form since the Swamp Run last March. Lately, though, I've been feeling the need to go ahead and start conditioning because there are a lot of awesome races that I want to run in this year. So, I have participated in two 5Ks in these last days of summer. The first one was a brand new race called "Ready, Set, Glow". It took place on July 31st and began at midnight. It was really dark, but they gave you glow bracelets to wear so that you could be seen. I really didn't do that well. My time was 29:10. At least I made it in under 30 minutes. Although the race was hot and tough, it was a lot of fun. I've never run that late at night before, but it was pretty awesome. The race was sponsored by the Y, so my brother Sam and my friend Krystial ran in it (because they work there). My dad also showed up (at midnight) to watch the race. If he's there, then you know that that's the place to be. The pictures from the Glow Run turned out pretty good because we took pictures before the race. My running buddies and I decided that we were going to start doing this because we looked like death in all of our pictures last year....

...And just as soon as I say this, I totally forget to take pictures before running my second race of the summer. Therefore, I look terrible in the picture from the Harvest Run 5K. Although I look bad, I actually ran well (26:58) and placed second in my age division. I was awarded a trophy that- like all of my other running trophies- was immediately confiscated by Olivia. This is not a bad start to the new running season, and I am looking forward to cooler weather and more races.