Komen Ozark Race for the Cure Race Recap

Today was the Komen Ozark Race for the Cure 5K and mother nature was not very cooperative! I woke up to the soft, relaxing sound of rainfall on the roof.  I sleep with my iPhone next to the bed so after turning off my alarm I quickly switched to my weather app to see what the weather radar looked like.  Not a good sign...we were definitely going to get wet with this race!

I quickly decided to go with capri tights instead of shorts even though the temp was around 60.  Better to be a little warm and not suffer chafing problems in a wet race! I got out of the house and on my way to the race pretty close to my original timeline.  Usually unpleasant weather turns into a massive motivation challenge for me to even leave the house.  Just as I pulled into the parking lot at Pinnacle Promenade I saw my friend Kyla's car.  I pulled into the spot next to her and we huddled in my car for a few minutes to discuss the situation.  We both decided that our racing tank tops would be the way to go versus wearing jackets or long sleeves.  We started a jog to the food court and dry restrooms at 7:10 with race time at 7:30.  We made it to the restrooms and there wasn't too long of a line which was great.  We ran into a few other Rush Runners inside the food court and all hung out trying to stay as warm as possible. Eventually we heard an announcement that the race would be postponed to an 8:00 start time.

We made our way to the race start and the rain wasn't super heavy but the streets were full of puddles.  A lot of people were wearing jackets and ponchos which I was surprised by.  We were in the start corral for just a few minutes before they started the race.  This is one of the largest races in our area and it is so much fun to watch the string of runners spread out at the start.  It's an awesome sight! (side note...I would have taken photos but with the rain didn't want to carry my phone.)

The race is on wide streets with lots of police support and volunteers along the way.  There are quite a few hills through out the race including a couple longer inclines.  My goal for the race was to just establish my baseline for the year.  I haven't done a 5K since last fall and I knew that my training was not where it should be.  I had hoped to finish around 30 min and I got in that range.  My chip time is probably around 30:57 or so.  My Garmin time (which subtracts two stops for retying my shoe) was around 30:27.  My PR time from last year was around 27:47 so for the start of the season...I'm not disappointed.  Last year this race was around 32:20...so I showed improvement for the course and that is always a good feeling.

Post-race I met up with Kyla again to do a cool-down lap of the mall.  Even though this race doesn't do age group awards, it more than makes up for it with post-race swag! There is a definite advantage to living in the same area as the home office for the world's largest retailer! Kyla and I loaded up on the goodies and made sure we stopped at the Skinny Cow booth for a much-deserved ice cream bar.

All of the goodies that I collected!

Overall, a good race day even though it was soggy.  I know that I have some hard work ahead of me to get ready for the summer season but I'm excited to get back to where I know I can be!