Race Report: 4.20 Healthy High 5k

On April 20th (4/20), Alan and I ran the "Healthy High" 5k, a little race in its 4th year, put on by the Alcohol and Drug Education Program at UMaine.  This was our first road race of the season and a big deal for me because it was the anniversary of my first road race ever last year.  A lot of the races we have planned for this year are repeats of last year with the simple goal of doing better than we did last time.  One reason why I chose this race last year is because it starts and finishes at the UM Rec Center which is across the street from my office.  The race starts (theoretically) at 4:20pm (ten minutes before the end of my normal work day) right next to the lot where I park for work every day.  This makes it very convenient for me, although not-so-much for all the other university employees who are trying to bolt from campus at 4:30.  My advice: next year plan to run or spectate.  So there.  Actually, that's my one big suggestion to the organizers: get the whole campus involved--make it a super fun event to watch, have contests for the best cheering section, etc.

So anyway....the weather was crazy all day long!  Way crazier than last year.  This April 20th included a strange assortment of rain, slush and hail.  Several hail storms in fact.  In the end I was really glad that the roads were clear--no slush at all--even though I could still see white on the grass in a few places.  I do sort of almost a little bit regret that I can't claim bragging rights for running in a hail storm.  That would have been bada$$, man...!

We left Mum & Dad at our house with the kids and Stacy joined them, too.  They all stood across the street in the mist and the cold to wait to see us pass and then the kids and the Gumps drove to the finish line and to hang out at the Rec Center after.

I had a great run and I owe a of it to bib #1, Dr. Dana, the VP for Student Affairs at UM.  I fell into step with him shortly after the start and felt really comfortable there so we ran the whole way together.  Neither one of us wanted to stop running so we just kept each other going.  And he is so well know and well loved on this campus that every step of the way someone was there clapping, cheering, cracking jokes, waving and smiling.  And he greeted everyone he knew, even shaking hands with the volunteers and asking after family members, but he never stopped.  Together we kept a very consistent, relatively easy pace.  It was kind of like being in a parade with a politician, but it totally worked for me.  Remember how much I love external motivation?  Well, it turns out that I don't even care if it's really being directed at the guy next to me.  I ate it up.

I only have a few shaky, damp looking pictures on our camera and haven't gotten Mum's off their camera yet,  but someone was taking finish line shots and I found this one on the web.  You can see Dr. Dana in the background--I didn't dust him exactly, he paused to talk to the race organizer, one of his star employees.

Finally, a half decent picture of me running.

Alan did GREAT!  He knocked 2 minutes off his time from last year and finally broke 30 minutes (net time).

The race was well organized.  Laurie Sidelko's done a great job creating and developing the event.  They added a 10k this year, and had several sponsors and tons of snacks waiting for us at the Rec Center.  I know they were disappointed with the turnout--they had 500 people pre-registered but a lot of no-shows on account of the weather.  You can't contral that, especially not in April in Maine.

Official Gun Times:

152/259 Alan Marks 30:00

190/259  Nancy Marks 34:01