This one started at 8:30am. Unlike our previous races, we had Mara with us for this one, all tucked into the jogging stroller. We knew parking had the potential to be impossible since there was not only a race but a giant Cinco De Mayo festival going on as well. With this knowledge, we opted to take the light rail train, called the MAX (Metropolitan Area Express) into downtown. Since the race started (and ended) at Pioneer Courthouse Square, it made it very convenient as there is a PCS stop on the MAX.
Getting out the door at ten minutes to 8 in the morning is tough enough, to say nothing of doing this with a toddler. Add to that the fact that said toddler didn't go to bed until after 10 pm the night before and you've got a very difficult morning. We were running late, of course, and didn't even get on the train until about 8:15am.
As we pulled up to PCS we could see the mob of runners at the starting line. Just as the train was stopping, the runners were starting. We watched as they all ran through the starting arc. The doors opened and we ran right off the MAX, across the street and right through the arc into the race. No time to use the bathroom or anything! This also meant we started dead last.
I discovered very quickly that the dynamics of running in a race with a jogging stroller and running in a race by yourself are very different. I generally keep a pretty decent pace (between 8 and 8 1/2 minutes per mile, even with a stroller) and therefore, the first few miles were spent passing people who keep slower paces. This happens to me nearly every race. But this time it was different.
I don't know if people thought, because I had a stroller and was passing them, that I was trying to show off or what. But I got some undeniably mean looks from people. But not everyone was unpleasant about it. "Wow!" I heard a few times. And, "well.. no more excuses!" was another thing I heard. I wasn't running this race with a jogging stroller because I had something to prove to people. I was running this race with a jogging stroller because 1) I had nobody to watch my kid and 2) I had something to prove to myself.
Mara, for the most part, did great. She waved at everyone, sang to herself and played with an empty dixie cup for most of the race. It was only a 10k so at least she didn't have to be in the stroller for such a long time. Around mile 5 she started asking to nurse. Lol! No time for that!
In the end, Mara and I finished 61st out of 488. 5th in my age bracket and 1st in the stroller category! (No, that's not a real category, but I wish! Haha.) My splits were all under 8:30:00 and my time was 52:21:08. I'll take it!
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