Laureen, Amelia and I drove to Salt Lake this morning to run in the Race for the Cure. It was kind of cool when we left the house (35 degrees), but the skies were clear and it warmed up comfortably when the sun came up. I was really hoping that it would be a good experience for Amelia as this was her first 5K. I was a little disappointed to learn from their website that there would be no official timing, but that didn't turn out to be that big of a deal. We stood in line at the Union Pacific train station for our tee shirts and numbers and were a little surprised to find out that everyone had exactly the same number (2008). I ran the tee shirts and extra clothing back to our car while the girls were finding a bathroom. There were LOTS of people milling around prior to the race and I was a little bit concerned that I wouldn't find them again. After a few anxious minutes they arrived at the designated meeting place and we walked down to the start where they were just beginning a group stretch and aerobics warmup. It was a fun atmosphere with six or seven thousand people from a wide variety of backgrounds. The announcer started the race with a ready-set-go, but when she tried to pull the trigger on the start gun, it didn't go off, so some took off and others waited to see if she could get the gun to go off. Eventually, she was able to fire it off and we took off (kind of). Many people were there with no intention of running any part of the course and some of them were at the start (and some of them were walking arm-in-arm three or four abreast). It was good in a way because we started off nice and slow. Amelia has had a tendency to take off like a shot only to be exhausted and nauseated less than a mile later. Laureen's Achilles tendon was still sore, but manageable, so we were able to stay together for the first mile (we took a short walk break after about half a mile). We were all feeling pretty good and following the same run/walk pattern, we made it to the aid station for a quick drink. Laureen was hurting by that point and told us to go on ahead and after getting assurances that she wouldn't be far behind we took off again. At the two mile mark I was surprised how well Amelia was doing with so little training. Our walk breaks were not infrequent, but in most cases they only lasted for 20 seconds or so. Approaching the three mile mark, I could sense that Amelia was ready to make a dash for the finish. She was tired and out of breath, but apparently determined to beat some boys her age that were running just ahead of us. We finished strong in 37:46 and got her a drink and an orange. She was excited to have finished and I think a little pleased to see how many finished after she did. We didn't see Laureen finish, but met her in front of J.Jill's (one of her favorite stores a short time later). All in all a fun experience and one that I think whetted Amelia's appetite for more. We stopped for some bread at Great Harvest in Draper on the way home and I then ran a few more miles while the girls were showering (about half of it at marathon pace).
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