 |
| Race morning was not like this... I just grabbed this pic off internet because I forgot to get a pic of the sign on race day. |
So let's talk about race morning... So Friday prior to the race the temps were amazing. Low 60s with sunshine. Then Saturday morning we woke up to COLD, WIND, & DRIZZLE RAIN. When I left the house, I figured it would stop drizzling by the time I got to Hattiesburg. I was WRONG. I knew the forecast only called for a high of 50 on the weekend, but I wasn't expecting it to feel so cold. And once I stepped out of my vehicle that had been in a carport all night, I realized real fast it was cold and nasty outside. I debating on throwing on another jacket prior to the run. I saw people all wrapped up. Ears covered and hands on gloves. Everyone was walking around like what the heck are we doing here to run in this mess. I saw a guy with a tank top and shorts on running around like a crazy man smiling and laughing. I think he was trying to stay warm and of course he was giving us all a big laugh as we were all huddled in groups waiting on that start bell hoping we would warm up once we starting running. There were 3 porta potties at the start line and the line was long. Candy never made it in before they started the race. 😢 It would have been nice to have more down at the church where most of the people were parked. The race had 400 runners. That's a nice size for a local race so they used the church parking lot down the road from the Christmas Tree farm to park most of the cars.
Once the race started, we did start to warm up. However, it did take my toes awhile to not be numb and I never took off my ear muffs or my light wind/rain jacket I had on over my long sleeve running shirt. The wind was brutal. Especially when we ran around the lake. It was FREEZING and we only had a little bit of wind that helped us run.. most was HEADWIND. 😏 I really enjoyed running through Lake Serene area looking at all the pretty houses despite the constant hills. I knew I needed hill work anyway.. might as well get it in with a couple of other runners suffering too. 😃 The course was great until we turned around and headed back to the farm to finish. Once we turned onto Oak Grove Road (I think that's the name of it), it seemed everyone in Lamar county was up and moving. Traffic was AWFUL. There was no shoulder on the road to run on and with both lanes of the road filled with traffic, it was just crazy. You could literally put your hand out and touch the cars passing by you. I was so nervous. A couple of big trucks with those big mirrors passed us and you literally had to jump off the road onto the grassy shoulder that was very uneven to get out of the way. The road also had these little reflectors in several places on the side of the road for cars at night and Felicia's toe hit one and down she went. I'm sure she was paying more attention to the traffic rather than to those things on the road at that point. Those things have gotten 2 of us lately!! It scared me so badly. All I could think was please don't let a car hit her before we help her up. Felicia and I along with several others ended up walking the last mile or so in because the traffic was so bad you could not run safely. I guess all the super fast runners got back in early before the neighborhood woke up without traffic problems, but for us back of the pack group, it was awful. I was so glad to get to the finish line. I did try to run with a smile and as I was passing people after the turnaround, I would yell good job and smile. It really makes a difference when you smile when you are in a race... whether it's the good or bad..... heat, cold, tiredness, cramps, etc. 😀 Just smile. 😁
I found out after the race that there were some road closures in that area and they had diverted the traffic to the road the race was finishing on. That's why traffic was so bad coming back into the finish. I had wondered if traffic was always so bad on Saturday mornings in that area. Now I know the reason. Maybe next year there will be no road closures diverting traffic our way. 🙏
A few pics (I can't take credit for most of the pics.. my hands were too cold to take off my gloves):
 |
| I have on my Chicago marathon jacket.. it kept me warm and dry! |
 |
| going across the lake here was so COLD! We went over the little bridge instead of the road to keep our shoes dry. |
 |
| Susan in her Wonder Woman race jacket. I so want one of these jackets! So glad she came down from TN to join us! |
The after race party was pretty cool. First we received an amazing medal that was made by Mohawk Steel and Glass. They were hand blown glass medals. They are truly one of a kind! My daughter in law has gotten several things from there over the years. When Drew died she had a Christmas ball blown for us with some of Drew's ashes in it. I display it every year at Christmas. 💓 They had fire pits to keep us warm and you could make your own smores. Not to mention some wonderful hot coffee. You could bring your chair and hang out for awhile after the race vising with friends around the fire pits which was really cool. I didn't stay too long because I had other obligations that day, but I really liked how they had the after race festivities set up.
 |
| Notice the small trees behind us... |
 |
| Finish line in the background. |
 |
| Felicia got this cool shot with the trees in the background. |
 |
| My medal ... so cool! Love it! |
#55daystillBoston
#keeppushing
#runwithheart
#chasingdreams
#seeyouatthestartline
#PPRF
