Hospital Hill Run

Race Recap

I left home on Friday about 11am and had an uneventful drive. The GPS helped me get to the Backwoods in Overland Park (I was less than impressed with the staff, they were not very helpful.) Then I stopped at my favorite over-priced sportswear store, Lucy. I bought a couple of shirts and some pants.

From there, I went to Crown Center to pick up my race packet. I love goody bags and I was not disappointed. The bag was a large nylon bag and contained running socks and a very nice running shirt.

I stopped by The Studio on my way to my friend's house but didn't buy anything. We had dinner at Tomfoolery and then ice cream from Cold Stone. On the way back to my friend's house her car exploded. There was a loud bang and smoke came from the exhaust; when we opened the hood there was green fluid all over. We think the radiator was overfilled at the garage last week but she has to take it in this week. We decided that we should stay in for the night so I was able to go to sleep at 9pm.

Race Day:
I woke up at 5am, had cheerios for breakfast and put on my lucky race outfit. We arrived at Crown Center at 6:30 and were able to easily find a parking place in the garage. The start line was a buzz with people. The wheelchairs started at 6:55, then Half-Marathon at 7am, and then me in the 10K, at 7:15. The first 2 miles had rolling hills, a little up and then a little down. Along the rest of the course there were a some big hills and it felt like I was going up and up and never coming down. I saw lots of people who just walked up the hills and then started running again at the top. There was also a strong wind through the course. Before I got to KC, I was thinking that I would finish in less than an hour but once I got there and saw the hills I realized there would be no personal best for me. After a few miles my goal became just running the whole thing without stopping. I was successful in that and finished in 1:06:12 which was a minute and a half less than my OKC time. I enjoyed the energy of the race - there were lots of runners and volunteers. The course was clearly marked and had enough water/gatorade stations. After the run, I got my picture taken, had some chocolate milk and bananas, and picked up my finisher flip flops; then we went to Panera for bagels. They had pancakes and sausages for finishers but I ready felt like a bagel.

Back at the house, I took a little nap and then we went to Hammerpress. D loves that place and I got him a great print and a little book. We had yummy Mexican food before I left for home. It was a long drive home because the A/C in the van was blowing hot air so I had to drive home with the windows down. (Never buy a Ford, my van has been a piece of junk from the day I bought it.)

Things I liked:

• cool weather
• beautiful course
• lots of great spectators and volunteers
• the hills (even though they were grueling)
• the goody bag
  
• finisher flip flops (awesome)
• running socks
• great tech shirt