Saturday was the Towpath Turtles' practice relay race for the Akron Marathon. This is where we support our Turtles Relay Team by running their legs of the race with them. I chose Leg #3, which is 7.5 miles. Our rock star relay runner was Erin, and this was her longest run to date. She was fabulous! We had a fun run in the sun, and Erin smiled the whole time. She is going to have a great race on Saturday, September 27.
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| This is EXACTLY how I look when I yell, "RELAY!" instead of "Cheese!" Erin is on the bottom right, next to me. |
Bagel #2 (blueberry) was preparation for the Race with Grace, a 5k that provides financial support to those with breast cancer. My friend Sharon, a Spanish teacher at our high school, organized a huge team of runners (over 50!) to race in the name of Brenda, a mother of one of our English teachers and a breast cancer survivor. Sharon did a fabulous job of organizing Team Brenda, from nagging us for our entry fees to getting us team shirts and herding us (like cats) to a team photo. I got a few photos of our team before the official group pic:
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| Some of Team Brenda before the official snapshot |
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| Brenda, our namesake, with her husband and her daughter, Sherri |
I tried to stir up some smack talk (and a possible betting opportunity) by attempting to pit two teachers against each other for the win. Jordan (the chemistry teacher, and just a damn kid, by the way) predicted he would win the race in 16:30. Ed (the math teacher) said he didn't feel like training to win (as he had just run in the 2014 Gay Games), so I felt rather deflated. I've got a year to get this rivalry going.
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| Ed and Stephani: Who is the fast runner here? Hint #1: Second place finish in the Gay Games Half Marathon. Hint #2: It's not Stephani. |
Hanging out with my Medina running peeps for a good cause was really a great way to spend a Sunday morning, but as for the racing part. . .I'm not gonna lie; I wasn't feeling it, Peeps. It was hot and humid, and I am kind of sick. That's right; a week before the half marathon, and I don't feel well. Nevertheless, I did the best I could. I had to pull out my mantras extra early: I can do this. I can do anything for 25 minutes. . . 20 minutes. . .10 minutes. . .5 minutes. You get the point.
Official Time: 26:49 (the start wasn't chip timed, so I lost more than 20 seconds by my Garmin), 8:39/mile
9th in my AG and on Team Brenda (!), 183/694 overall
I'll take it. I'll also take a nap as soon as I get some laundry done. (I'm just kidding about the laundry.)
Jordan was right: he won the 5k in 16:31--amazing! Ed was right, too; he took second place (but only because he wasn't feeling it either). Lauren (intervention specialist) took first place in her AG, and Allison (math teacher) took second place for women. Team Brenda won for fastest race results!
This was a great day for a race, and I will definitely do this again next year. Now for a real taper, and then I will see you at the Akron Half Marathon on Saturday, September 27!
Don't forget, Peeps, that I will be blogging for the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k in Columbus, which is on Sunday, November 15. If you want to register early, use my code, TroubleRunHat, to get a free hat with your swag. Join me--it's the sweetest race around!
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