Sunday, July 22, 2012

Let Them Eat Cake (After a Race)!

by Leah Connor

The first thing I normally want after running a race is an ice cold Diet Coke. And then, soon after, I'm heading towards the nearest Starbucks for a non-fat no whip white mocha. But when I finished the Fairview 5K on Saturday, I saw something I don't think I've ever seen at a post-race celebration: CAKE!

And, oh was it GOOD! It didn't matter that there weren't any forks. Another runner and I dove in without hesitation, using our fingers as utensils. The woman slicing up the cakes thought it was a bit crazy for us to eat cake after running, but I have a sweet tooth and no self control, so I helped myself to a slice of the 1/2 chocolate, 1/2 vanilla indulgence (pictured on the bottom left).

During the awards ceremony (where I won the grab bag prize of "Training Aids" from Freestyle, ok, can someone tell me what those are?!), I went back for the strawberry filled cake (top left). YUM!!! And then I went back for some more (the ceremony went on for awhile and like I said, I have no self control!). I only wish I would have tried the chocolate cake before it was gone!

Although I was the 7th woman overall (and believe me, at the turn around, I started counting bobbing ponytails to see what place I was in!), I didn't win my age group. WAH! I must admit that it's a little disappointing when I don't win anything because I do like to hear my name called. I guess I can't help but enjoy the 3 seconds in the spotlight and a public validation of all my hard training, not to mention the swag!

I absolutely LOVE that Ragged Mountain Running Shop (RMRS) supports all these local not-for-profit charity races and supplies such amazing awards prizes. Of course, maybe it wouldn't hurt to spread the AG award wealth a bit. I probably have enough RMRS t-shirts and sweatshirts that I could wear a different one every day for two weeks! Ha!

So this is a clear lesson in: "It's all about who shows up." Yesterday, all the fast 40-44 year olds came out and even though I met my time goal of 23:15 (see my previous post), it wasn't quite good enough. In contrast, last year I ran 13 seconds slower, but came in 3rd overall.

I wore my Green Team Sparkle Skirt in honor of my grandma, Aileen O'Connor Hill, who died unexpectedly on Monday. I loved her Irish spirit!




Close to the Finish


Click on my link for my obsessive analysis of 5 years of the Fairview 5K.

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