An Amazing Weekend, Part II: The Navy 5-Miler
Yesterday I told you about part of my amazing weekend - the Oktoberfest, attended with Jen and a slew of friends. Well the fun didn’t end there! After dinner Jen pulled out her supplies and faster than a first grader (an age where kids know how amazing arts & crafts time is!), she was hard at work, creating an amazing sign for yours truly! Of course we all got a giggle out of the posterboard remnants she had. I modeled it to illustrate the humor:
Inspiration had hit her the night before she confided, and she simply had to have a shoe-shaped sign for the next day’s race.
By 11pm I was in bed. I woke up before my alarm went off, something I do when I’m excited. While I know it’s only a 5-mile race, a distance that usually serves as a warm-up for me, I was still eagerly anticipating it. Of course getting to the race turned out to be a slight fiasco as I second-guessed myself and turned around not once, but twice, arriving at the start line just minutes before the gun would sound.
With the POP! of the gun, I was off, hitting my first mile under 8 minutes, my second mile around 13 minutes. It was humid that morning, but not so much as the day before, so I was feeling good and my stride felt smooth.
Turning the corner at the halfway point I counted the women in front of me. I was the 10th female. The remainder of the race I would be passed by three women, but I would catch two of them. Here I am, overtaking one near the end. Can you see the fear in her eyes as she sees me striding out? Oh yes people, it’s there…
I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 36:23, which is a 7.18-minute pace. I came in 5th in my division (out of 115) and overall, I am incredibly pleased with my time. My goal was to complete it under 40 minutes, and I said I’d be ecstatic if I finished it in 35 minutes. I wasn’t too far off and I’m happy with my performance.
And I’m even more excited that my friends Jen and Michael were there to watch me race and cheer me on.
Another great thing about the morning - refueling with a poppyseed bagel and Powerade upon finishing. Victory never tasted so sweet!
Great Job on the race! That is super fast!
Nice stride! You rock and I love the sign. Hopefully I’ll get to come cheer you on soon and witness the fear of the others live as you fly by!
The poppyseed bagel is perhaps my most favorite raceday picture EVER!
And I’m more than a little bit psyched that you’re going to be tooling around town with my sign in your back window this week… I’m thinking an art gallery should do a show on race signs, don’t you??? LOL
[...] ready to participate in the morning’s events. And by participate, I mean that I was ready to watch Courtney run five miles while I stood on the sidelines and waved a poster, snapped photos, clapped and screamed out a [...]
[...] The Life and Shenanigans of Courtney Birst « An Amazing Weekend, Part II: The Navy 5-Miler [...]
Seeing photos of you and Jennifer Amber - how strange, the two of you look as young as you did when I left 8 years ago - I feel old.
You are a running beast… I hope one day I can become a running beast!
Congrats on a great race! You can see more race photos online at the Navy 5 Miler official race photo website.
We hope to see you there next year!