To the back, to the back!

Dear runners who are slower than me (if that's possible) and walkers and people with strollers at 5k events,

MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE GROUP AT THE START LINE.

I would like you to take note of the statement that I so very rudely put in all capital letters. My co-workers and I had a discussion on slow runners and walkers today. Part of our jobs are to set up and make sure that 5K fundraisers go smoothly. We get annoyed by (and worried for) the ba-zillion people who think that they should be at the very front of the start line.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. We don't want you to get hurt. Hard-core runners who are there for qualifying times or want to win "fastest" awards will mow you down. Please look around you and find someone who you suppose is about your same fitness level and start near them.


2. We want to make sure that people who are there for qualifying times don't get tripped up by people who "just want to see the start" and then don't move back. Again, they will trample you.


3. We care about the safety of your children. That's right. I'm talking to you lady with the baby/toddler in the running stroller. I know you're probably one hot mama and can run way faster than me, but please don't stand at the very start. People will run right over you or dart in front of the stroller requiring you to jerk the stroller in a motion that I'm sure is not either comfortable or safe for your kiddo.


4. As a runner, nothing sucks more than starting behind someone who you guessed to be much faster, but who has decided to fiddle with their MP3 player or shoelaces or whatever at the very last minute. Then you jog along like you don't know what you're doing and you cause problems for those around you, which again, is not safe.


5. If you don't back up, it ends up like this (Thanks to Failblog.org):

Really, we want you to be safe. If you aren't sure how fast you are, it's never wrong to start a little farther back than you think and then move up during that first quarter mile. We don't want a jumble of people crashing together causing all sorts of problems and injuries. Also, it's really annoying. Please act accordingly.

Thank you,

Me

Full of Blarney!

What a crowd we had! I don't just mean the nearly 1,000 people at the 19th Annual Blarney Run/Walk, but I met up with/saw so many people I knew! I found Sarah (pink bandana) before the race like we planned, and she had her friends Josh and Becky with her (see attractive people on the right in the photo below).

I also met up with my friend Rulena from church and she started the race with us. Sarah had never done a 5K before, but she did a great job finishing at 34 minutes flat (according to the official posted results thanks to the Badgerland Striders). I finished just ahead of her at 32:42. Becky, Josh and Rulena all finished in the 20's.

The race was very hilly along the Underwood Parkway and Swan Boulevard. I had a very slow first mile because you really had to jockey to get to an open space to hit your stride. The second one was downhill but I got a stitch in my side so I could really lengthen my stride too much. The third mile was mostly uphill and that really divided people. You could tell who still had some fire in them and pushed through strong. Others gave their all in the first two miles and got passed by the fired-up people. I can gladly say that I finished strong and passed quite a number of people in mile three. I was hoping to finish faster, but oh well. Next time!

Pros of the event: it was well-organized, I had lots of friends to run with, great cause, good food afterward, clear results and had great volunteers! The Wauwatosa Historical Society raised about $20,000 for their projects including the roof on the Kneeland Walker House which is leaking badly (HINT! HINT!).

Cons of the event: uphill last mile, bottleneck at the turnaround and the finish line, people who don't know how to line up for a race.

The pros win (as they always do).

Luck o' the Run

I just looked at my last month's entry and CANNOT believe I let this go this long. I faithfully maintain another blog for my day job, and am sorry to have left this blog alone for nearly a full month. However, the timing of the run/walk events is practically exactly a month a part since this Saturday, March 13 will be The 19th Annual Blarney Run!

I have never been what you call a "lucky" person since I don't really believe in luck, but this all just seems a little coincidental. A run scheduled to be a part of St. Patrick's Day, a holiday where we celebrate a lot of everything about a country where people are stereotypically superstitious, on the 13th? I really hope 13 turns out to be my number on Saturday! I REALLY want to break the 30 minute mark, but we'll see.

So, how about some information on the race? It's the same starting spot as the 8K that I ran last month so no worries about finding it, and the course is very similar. Downhill, uphill, downhill, uphill, finish! Why is the finish line always uphill? Can't it be flat?

The Blarney Run/Walk is set up as a fundraiser for the Wauwatosa Historical Society, which is housed in the Kneeland Walker House (about a block from my family's house). The WHS does many wonderful things for the city including holding the history of Tosa, maintaining a library of records, revitalized the Little Red Store (which has a community bike rental program coming this summer!), and restoring the beautiful murals hidden behind the walls of the original entrance to Wauwatosa High School (now Wauwatosa East High School). These are only a few of their projects. They just had an event on some of the founding families of Wauwatosa that I went to with Mom, Debbie, and Kathy and learned all about the Hart's, Wheeler's, Warren's, and that where our house is used to be a lake. Who knew?

A new and exciting development is that one of my childhood friends (Hi Sarah!) has now taken up running and is going to meet me at the race! While we're not sure if we'll be on pace with each other, we can at least start the race together. Correct me if I'm wrong Sarah, but her goal this year is to run a marathon! A MARATHON! I'm so impressed! I don't know if she remembers this, but when I was a kiddo and had a bunch of surgeries on my foot, Sarah was a very good friend and patiently walked around my block with me while I re-learned how to walk. At the time, we were just two little girls being silly and taking walks, but really, it was a great way to do physical therapy and we probably didn't even notice it. Now we get to run a race together! Hopefully, I'll remember my camera and we can snap a few photos to share with you all.

As always, I'll report back after the race on Saturday and let you all know how it went. Hopefully, I'll have some good news about my time! Thanks to all my friends and family who keep an eye on this blog. It's fun to share this challenge with you!

Because it would feel wrong not to say it, wish me luck!