Jingle Bell Run 5K Recap

Ah, the Jingle Bell 5K...loved it! All the festive costumes and hats and bells ringing, it was just so much fun. Since Trav was being a poohead and didn't want to make the drive to Seattle, I had the privilege of carpooling with Kerrie--and I'm SO GLAD I did!

Kerrie picked me up from the house at 7:15 on the dot and we drove to the super secret parking spot that was absolutely perfect for the occasion (no waiting for long lines of cars after the event! Definite WIN!). Walking to Westlake was fun because we kept seeing all sorts of people dressed up for the event, including Jesus, a slutty Mrs. Claus and Santa Claus himself! And of course there was an abundance of bells. And TUTUS! We totally agreed on making awesome tutus for next years race! Just get all sorts of tulle and glitter all over the place. Woohoo!

After walking around the start area and finally locating the bell person (woohoo!) we stood next to the AMAZING heat lamps that were provided...the best race addition ever. When it was time to line up, Kerrie and I found ourselves struggling to move into the huge mass of people at the start line. It took us a little more than two minutes to actually reach the start mat after the gun went off. But once that happened, BAM!, time to get moving. Of course, being in mid-pack was a little hassle, as I dodged and weaved and ducked and avoided light poles to get around A LOT of people. Oh well! Next year...

The course was an interesting loop-like jaunt around downtown, through the Express tunnels and back around to Westlake. Everything was going pretty well, despite Gus freaking out about another tunnel (he's a little scared of dark enclosures), and then the course veered up Boren street...giant hill. A mean hill. But then that mean it was downhill ALL the way home to the finish line. And it was in sight! So I was booking it like I was being chased by a [insert scary fast object/animal here]. Somebody had projectile puked in the middle of the street on the downhill portion, and it seriously had had some crazy velocity behind it. Gross, I know. I made sure to avoid those two giant splatters. Ick.

Splits for my records (may/may not be completely accurate):
Mile 1 - 8:02
Mile 2 - 7:00
Mile 3 - 7:51
.23 - 1:23 (6:02 pace?!?!?!) Yeah, where in the hell did THAT come from?

After finishing I saw a coworker, and apparently my chip time (Gus time) was faster than his! AHAHAHA! You know I gave him crap the next day for it, too. :) Fun times. I grabbed some water and jogged back to the finish sidelines in search of Kerrie. I found her! And she finished wicked strong too. Here's proof:

She's a blur!

Thumbs up for a great race

Mandatory Santa pics! :)

Overall, it was a very cool race with good company and yummy swag (Top Pot Doughnuts!). After grabbing a quick coffee at Nordstrom, we headed back to the waiting 'Bu (Kerrie's hubby's Malibu) and it's heavenly seat warmers!! Yes! WIN!

FINAL STATS:
Mileage - 3.23 miles (per Gus)
Time - 24:17
Overall - 446 out of 2365
Division Place - 32 out of 385 (F20-29)
Pace - 7:31

And LASTLY...

I have nothing against John Curley at all, but seriously, I just want to beat him in a race now. GAH! It's all in good fun though because it's ultimately for charity. However, when I was trying to send him a message to have the website updated, the word verification phrase made me laugh: