Run The Woodlands 5K #169 Race Report
Ok, neither Waverly or myself ran really well. I suppose it had something to do with a mexican food and cake fest at Pappasito's Friday night. (At least that's my story and I'm sticking with it!)
I was gassed after the first mile and told Rick Cook that I was just going to enjoy it in the rest of the way. I came in for a 32:03 finish. Ugh!
Waverly ran the course with Debbie Tripp after the festitivies and finished in 38:17.
Our splits were as follows:
Me -- 9:32.58, 10:44.59, 10:46.67 and 59.34 = 32:03.18
Waverly -- 11:16.97, 12:32.81, 13:23.12 and 1:04.57 = 38:17.47
Speaking of festivities, my wife and my daughter worked feverishly to put together a Happy 40th Birthday party at the race for me -- as well as a Happy 50th celebration for upcoming honoree, Bill Dwyer, who passes that magic milestone on January 20th. (They did a wonderful job considering that I wasn't in Vancouver. If I had been, I'm not sure what stops they might have pulled out.)
I had an inadvertent hint during the week, but didn't think much more about it.
The first person that showed up that I was surprised about (and probably took my mind off of wondering) was Karen Thibodeaux. (Karen has said on a number of occasions that she wants to get running again ... so I thought she had come out to run. I explained to her where the waiver was, etc. She played it off like a pro! In fact, she made a reference about running with her two dogs.)
I hadn't seen Holden Choi since Sunmart, but I hadn't seen him at a Run The Woodlands in even longer. But still, I didn't think anything was up. (In fact, I was telling him that I had expected Rick to be here any time soon.)
The third person that showed up that should have made me suspicious was Sam Rodriguez. He hadn't raced in awhile and I almost missed him with a little bit of hair growth on his face! I was so glad to see him -- and his wife and daughter was with him -- that again I didn't think of anything.
The fourth person - before the race - that I was surprised to see was Thomas McDonough. He had warned me through a blog post comment that he'd be back -- and he was! Good to see the character racing again.
The race had its normal pre-race introductions - including something being said about my 40th birthday by Luke's Locker store manager Susie Schreiber. However, I made sure before the race that she made reference to the fact that The Woodlands' Ann Leoni was running her 100th Run The Woodlands 5K. (In fact, she didn't race any in the first year of the Series - 2000.)
After a couple of rounds of applause, the race started. As I rounded the first loop, I saw Karen shooting pictures and that kind of surprised me. On the second loop in the parking lot, Rick pulled up alongside and asked what I was going to run and I told him that I was feeling dinner from the night before and we would just see. When I told him about Karen shooting, I knew then, "Something was up!"
We were running along and I wasn't feeling real good, but we were carrying on a conversation. As we made the left hand turn on to Alden Bridge and down the path, I then saw people with signs -- including my parents and numbers of folks from Team In Training! I knew then that the fix was in! They had t-shirts on that said, "Happy Birthday Jon's 40th Bill's 50th."
We passed the first mile in 9:32 and I was gassed. I had worked out Wednesday night, but had been pretty busy the two days before. I told Rick that I was just going to take it easy -- and we did. At the 2.3-mile left hand turn back on to Crown Ridge, waiting was Bill, Debbie and Waverly with more signs.
The final big surpise at the finish line is that I saw - on the side with my parents - the founding Pastor of where we've gone to church, Dr. John Gross. (His son, who lives in the Kansas City area was the best man in our wedding.) Not to take away from anybody or anything else, but that was one of the many highlights!
It was an incredibly surprising day and lots of fun!
Jim and Kathy Braden recognized Ann Leoni after the race with a bouquet of flowers and many The Woodlands Running Club members were wearing the team's new uniforms.
Karen Thibodeaux's photographs can be found here!
The race results are here!
Additional photographs taken by Debbie Tripp can be found here!
(I may add more later if I think that I've missed something.)
I was gassed after the first mile and told Rick Cook that I was just going to enjoy it in the rest of the way. I came in for a 32:03 finish. Ugh!
Waverly ran the course with Debbie Tripp after the festitivies and finished in 38:17.
Our splits were as follows:
Me -- 9:32.58, 10:44.59, 10:46.67 and 59.34 = 32:03.18
Waverly -- 11:16.97, 12:32.81, 13:23.12 and 1:04.57 = 38:17.47
Speaking of festivities, my wife and my daughter worked feverishly to put together a Happy 40th Birthday party at the race for me -- as well as a Happy 50th celebration for upcoming honoree, Bill Dwyer, who passes that magic milestone on January 20th. (They did a wonderful job considering that I wasn't in Vancouver. If I had been, I'm not sure what stops they might have pulled out.)
I had an inadvertent hint during the week, but didn't think much more about it.
The first person that showed up that I was surprised about (and probably took my mind off of wondering) was Karen Thibodeaux. (Karen has said on a number of occasions that she wants to get running again ... so I thought she had come out to run. I explained to her where the waiver was, etc. She played it off like a pro! In fact, she made a reference about running with her two dogs.)
I hadn't seen Holden Choi since Sunmart, but I hadn't seen him at a Run The Woodlands in even longer. But still, I didn't think anything was up. (In fact, I was telling him that I had expected Rick to be here any time soon.)
The third person that showed up that should have made me suspicious was Sam Rodriguez. He hadn't raced in awhile and I almost missed him with a little bit of hair growth on his face! I was so glad to see him -- and his wife and daughter was with him -- that again I didn't think of anything.
The fourth person - before the race - that I was surprised to see was Thomas McDonough. He had warned me through a blog post comment that he'd be back -- and he was! Good to see the character racing again.
The race had its normal pre-race introductions - including something being said about my 40th birthday by Luke's Locker store manager Susie Schreiber. However, I made sure before the race that she made reference to the fact that The Woodlands' Ann Leoni was running her 100th Run The Woodlands 5K. (In fact, she didn't race any in the first year of the Series - 2000.)
After a couple of rounds of applause, the race started. As I rounded the first loop, I saw Karen shooting pictures and that kind of surprised me. On the second loop in the parking lot, Rick pulled up alongside and asked what I was going to run and I told him that I was feeling dinner from the night before and we would just see. When I told him about Karen shooting, I knew then, "Something was up!"
We were running along and I wasn't feeling real good, but we were carrying on a conversation. As we made the left hand turn on to Alden Bridge and down the path, I then saw people with signs -- including my parents and numbers of folks from Team In Training! I knew then that the fix was in! They had t-shirts on that said, "Happy Birthday Jon's 40th Bill's 50th."
We passed the first mile in 9:32 and I was gassed. I had worked out Wednesday night, but had been pretty busy the two days before. I told Rick that I was just going to take it easy -- and we did. At the 2.3-mile left hand turn back on to Crown Ridge, waiting was Bill, Debbie and Waverly with more signs.
The final big surpise at the finish line is that I saw - on the side with my parents - the founding Pastor of where we've gone to church, Dr. John Gross. (His son, who lives in the Kansas City area was the best man in our wedding.) Not to take away from anybody or anything else, but that was one of the many highlights!
It was an incredibly surprising day and lots of fun!
Jim and Kathy Braden recognized Ann Leoni after the race with a bouquet of flowers and many The Woodlands Running Club members were wearing the team's new uniforms.
Karen Thibodeaux's photographs can be found here!
The race results are here!
Additional photographs taken by Debbie Tripp can be found here!
(I may add more later if I think that I've missed something.)
posted by WalkSports.com | 2:58 PM
1 Comments:
wish i could've been there. sounds fun.
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