Lucky (?!?) 7 Race Report

I got a PR!  (Disclaimer:  I was guaranteed a PR because I have never raced this distance.  But it's a PR nevertheless.)   It probably wasn't the brightest of ideas to do this race because of my recent leg issues and with two more half marathons coming up but it was a beautiful day.  One of the few recent sunny days in days of rain, rain, and more rain.  The race ran along the trails of Davis.  I must say I prefer these trails much more than the Davis Stampede course.  It's hard to comprehend that I lived in Davis for three years and never knew these existed.  It was a beautiful course along the various greenbelts.  My only complaint was that the mile markers appears to be randomly placed along the course.  They were in correct sequence but some "miles" were 1/2 miles, others were 1 1/4 miles, and some others were 1.5 miles.  I am glad I had my Garmin but during the race I kept on thinking whether this was going to actually be a 7 mile race.  My concern is that maybe it was going to be much longer.  In the end after all the twists and turns it was 7 miles.  

And the kids races are still haunting me.  The kids races start at the finish line.  So as I was running to the finish, the kids (and they were little) were lined up at the finish to run in my direction.  Luckily they delayed the start and some volunteers cleared a path for me to cross the finish line.   Next year, I will have the goal of finishing before the kids races line up.  In the end, I finished in 1:40.22 and I was almost ALIVE last again.  I was 3rd from last.  Too bad there aren't awards for the back of the pack.  I would be cleaning house this year on those.    Where have all the slower runners gone?  Maybe awards will help bring them back.


After the race, my leg was hurting and I was so ready to get my congratulatory Starbucks and head home.  I went to start my car and the battery was dead.  Aurgh!  I just wanted to go home.  An hour later, after AAA was there and I had to buy a brand new battery I was able to head home.  The jury is still out as to how "Lucky" this run was in the end.  Shamrock'n is next weekend and I hope my leg is up to the challenge.