Top Pot Doughnut Dash 5K Recap

How could I pass up a race where you can get a doughnut at the end?  ;)

After Lolo finished!  I'm not sure what my right hand is doing.

Yesterday was GORGEOUS.  Completely beautiful weather for a jaunt around Seattle's Greenlake.  I had told Trav that the race started at 8am, simply because I wanted to get there early and make sure I got my correct size t-shirt (gender specific!  yes!).  Of course, when he found out the race was at 9am, he was a little upset...but not for long.  He decided to take Miss Goob around the lake during my race, which was perfect.

It was my best friend Laura's first 5K, so I was extra excited to be racing.  We found her before the start with her friends K and R, also running.  It was a mix of nervous and anxious energy!  Love it!  Right before we started lining up, Gus decided he didn't have any juice to stay on.  Crap.  And I forgot to use my inhaler.  Double crap.  Well, even though this was my 5K PR course, I wasn't really looking to PR...just do my best.

My support team!

The starting gun went off and it was a frenzy of runners.  This time I stayed more towards the front and decided that it was a good place to stay.  Who cares if a couple runners passed me?  At least I wasn't dodging and weaving around a few dozen of them.  ;)  I felt like I was keeping a pretty decent pace, but my mouth was very dry (I forgot to chew gum!) and I was wheezing just a little with every inhale.

Stay focused.  Trav and Goober will be along the trail soon.

Sure enough, about halfway, there was my smiling hubby and sleeping baby girl.  Trav high-fived me and I felt a renewed energy.  Gotta love that!

Towards the end I felt a little tired, but then I remembered Desi's kick at the finish of Boston and it inspired me to try harder.  Instead of a sprint at the very end, I found a decent sprint a good time before the finish line.  I passed a bunch of people that I think were in my division...and it felt amazing.

And then I was done.  THANK YOU.  I was warm and a bit dizzy, and I knew Travis hadn't made it back to the finish yet.  So I started running again to find him around the lake, grab my iPhone and go find Lolo to take a picture of her finishing.  I found Trav right in time and headed back to the finish line JUST as Laura was rounding the corner...

Go Lolo!

Snapped a few pics and gave her a GIANT hug at the finish.  She's a 5K-er now!  Yay!  

K, R, Lolo & I before the start

We all enjoyed our post-race Top Pot doughnut for sure. :)

FINAL STATS:
Mileage - 3.1
Time - 23:46
Overall - 174 out of 1874
Division Place - 15 out of 322 (F20-29)
Sex Place - 40 out of 1205
Pace - 7:39