Every time I travel, I check to see if there are any races that would fit in to my schedule while I am at the travel destination. It makes me exercise while traveling and it’s just plain fun to run in races. Tell me I am not the only one who looks to see if there are any races going on at their travel destination?
We came to Iowa this weekend so my older brother, Nick, could put new tires on my car (my younger brother, Anthony, ordered them for me – they work at a car dealership with a service shop in the back – score for having mechanic brothers (and dad)). I saw that there was a cheap race called “Run Walk and Roll for a Drug Free Community 5K” on Saturday, but figured I would not be able to participate because it was during the same time Nick wanted to put the tires on my car.
Well, it turns out that Nick was interested in running the 5K with me! Hells yeah! We re-arranged the tire appointment to Friday night so we could make it all work.
Nick and me
I should mention two things. The first is that I have read countless race reports of people running with their parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, kids, and so on (you get the idea) – and have always thought “I wish I could run with a family member!” So when I heard Nick was remotely interested, I pounced on the idea.
The second thing I want to mention is that Nick is not a runner and he did not train for this race*. He just decided to run it for fun. I know that is a big “no no” and I should have been a responsible runner and told him not to try to run it, but honestly, I knew he would be able to run most of it, and we could walk if we had to, which we did. I think Nick is naturally athletic, and could actually be a decent runner, especially with training!
The race was pretty small – maybe 200 or so runners. We started at Pathways Behavioral Services (the host of the race – a counseling center for people with drug and alcohol problems), ran through their parking lot, then on some grass, over some dry clumpy dirt, and got on to a local trail. We ran out and back on the trail.
You’ll notice I am wearing a pumpkin costume. The race was the day before Halloween so I figured people would dress up. Not so much. Only me. I didn’t care though. My mom kept saying “If we were in Chicago, there would be so many people dressed up! People dress up for random races there!” Very true.
I did get a lot of funny comments. At the end of the race some guy yelled “Looking good pumpkin!” then said to Nick “Don’t worry, I’ll never call her that again.” I said “Don’t worry, that’s just my brother!” And after the race was over, some guy told me “I saw you and thought ‘I can’t let the pumpkin beat me!’ ” I told him about the Eiffel Tower at the marathon and how I thought the same thing.
Oops, this is getting long. The race itself went well. We ran the first mile and a half at a decent pace, then walked a bit in the middle. We ran until we got to this huge hill, then ran some of it and walked the rest. In the last mile of the race we did a run/walk pattern.
Here we are coming in to the finish!
Our final clock time was 28:34 (here are the Garmin stats) but the course was only 2.9 miles (what is it with me running short 5Ks lately?). I do think we could have finished in 30 minutes if it would have been a full 5K.
Nick had a lot of fun (and of course I did) but got a bit out of breath toward the middle of the race, so he relaxed a bit after we finished. I am so proud he did this 5K!
A photo with our spectators – me, Steven, Nick’s son Thomas, dad, mom, Nick’s wife Courtney, Nick
After the race we headed down to the basement of the building for food and door prizes. They had homemade goodies for food and a bucket full of Halloween knickknacks for kids. That’s where I found these eyeballs:
I ended up winning a door prize – a free wing party at Buffalo Wild Wings (50 free wings). I gave that to my mom (she compensated me by buying me some soap and lotion later in the afternoon).
Overall, I thought this was a nicely organized run, and had a lot of fun (and the weather was perfect – mid 40s)! If I am in town next year, I will do it again, hopefully, with Nick!
Have you ever run a race with a family member? Or in costume?
What did you do/are you doing for Halloween?
I went out with my siblings, their significant others, my mom, and another friend to the local bars on Main Street last night. I didn’t drink because I was getting over a headache, but had a great time with everyone, especially just people watching at the bars!
(Brother) Nick and (wife) Courtney, (boyfriend) Will and (sister) Christina, Mom, (brother) Anthony and (fiancee) Amber, (friend) CJ, me and Steven
Doesn’t my mom look much better as a pumpkin than I do?
*Nick bought his shoes and outfit for the 5K the night before, and had a granola bar and can of soda for breakfast. I don’t want to make light of the fact that he did not train… but that I should mention those things because they make me laugh.
YES!! Haha…I love when people run in costume! Running with family is always fun!
Ha, I’ve always wanted to run a race in a costume, but I want to make good and sure that I’m comfortable with the distance before I attempt it!
I’m so amused that you were the only one running in a costume. So great!
I ran my first 10K with my mom and my second 10K with my step-mom. My cousin has started running some, but she has so far declined my invitations to run together. Booo.
I have a cousin who lives in Milwaukee that I was hoping would want to run with me. No luck so far!
P.S. This costume was super comfortable!
That’s an awesome race report! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your pumpkin costume. It really looked like you were having a blast!
Thanks 🙂
Cute picture of all the costumes!! 🙂 Great Job Nick!! 🙂
You are so cute and funny as a pumpkin. I love all the comments people made. Sounds like a fun weekend.
Haha, I love how you were the only one in a costume. How weird! I ran a 5K on Thursday and there were many people dressed up! You make a cute pumpkin, though. 🙂
When I do the 2 mile fun run with Delilah, I have had a lot of people say they can’t believe they were beat by a basset hound. haha.
I think it’s awesome that your brother ran a race with you! (even if he didn’t train). I have run a few races with my mom. Most recently in March of this year. We used to run a lot together when I was in high school. Then we both stopped running for a while a nd she just got back into it last year. My dad ran one race with us back in 1999. He just wanted to prove that he could run faster than us without training (he did). My brother isn’t much of a runner but I think if his daughters ever take up running he might be inclined to run a race or two with them.
I wish I could run with my parents! I bet my dad would be faster than me too!
Your mom is totally right about people dressing up in Chicago! How funny.
I think you BOTH make a very cute pumpkin. 🙂
Thanks!
Looks like you had a lot of fun! I think it’s great that you look for races to do when you travel AND that your brother decided to do this one with you. He does have some natural talent!
And what I didn’t mention is that Nick naturally strikes midfoot. I think he could do really well if he trained! He said he would run one with me next year. He was pretty sore on Sunday. 😉
I LOVE your costume!! 😀
I’ve never run a race with a family member — probably because I’ve never run a race, period — but I don’t have any family members whose interests include anything remotely non-sedentary, so… that kinda sucks.
<3 <3
sounds like fun! glad you were finally able to run a race with a family member!
Your pumpkin costume is awesome! What a great race!
I’ve run races with my brother – well not really with him – he is faster than me, but we were running the same race.
Happy Halloween!
That counts as running with family! 🙂
I think you both are adorable as pumpkins.
I love that your brother ran it without training and did so well too. I am cracking up because running without training seems like something I would do. I think it would be fun to run with a sibling. My brother doesn’t run but after reading this maybe I’ll make him.
I’m surprised no one else dressed up! There were lots of costumes at my 5K Saturday. (Side note: I STILL can’t believe the Eiffel Tower ran the whole marathon, and I saw it myself!) Glad you & Nick had fun! 🙂
I love that you wore the pumpkin costume! Too cute. I can’t believe no one else was dressed up! I ran a trail race yesterday as a lady bug- it was hilarious to see everyone running in costume!
I hope you put pictures up for us to see! (I am late to reading blogs, as usual…)
SO AWESOME! I love that you ran the race in the pumpkin outfit. And seems like the outfit didn’t slow you down one bit. Good job! And coolio to running with your bro!
LOVE the running outfit!!
Love the costume you ran in. You were easy to spot, unless of course there were other pumpkins out there. 😉