Color Run 5K

I didn't think I would have a lot to say about this race, but this post turned out longer than I thought.

There are plenty of local 5K's around here during the summer but I've limited myself to doing one race per month.  For the month of August, I originally wanted to run the Love Run that I did last year, but I skipped it because it was just way too hot and I remembered how miserable it was last year.  To be honest, I only allowed myself to skip it because I knew there would be another race this weekend!

Source

So this weekend's race was the Color Run sponsored by Sheetz. I was only a spectator last year.  The race took place down at our Island Park, but in the wooded trails. Scott and I scoped out the trail the night before so I could see where I would be running.  I mentioned in the weekly wrap that I ended up having a sore throat when I got home.

Well Saturday morning when I woke up I felt miserable. My throat was so dry and so very sore. I got up at 5:30 am and had a Sucrets and laid their till 7am. I thought about skipping the race but knew it was my last opportunity to do a race in August.  I got myself up and decided to do a "test run" to see how I was feeling.  I did almost 2 miles near my home and decided I could handle it. 

I don't usually carry water for a 5k, but I decided to bring my own in my flip belt since my throat was so sore. 

I didn't register for this race in advanced because after the processing fee, I was only saving $2 and there was a stipulation that said if the path got flooded, the race would take place at the High School track. Since the race takes place on the island, there is a good chance that part of the route could get flooded if we had a good rain ( it's been flooded before).  Running a race on a track did not sound fun, so I waited till race day to register.

When we registered we got a drawstring bag and a pack of color. I guess runners were putting the color on themselves before they even started to run.  My goal was to not get any color on me, so I did not open my packet. 

Scott came to the race with me and then a few minutes before the start time, I saw my mom, dad, and nana.  It was nice to have them all come out and spectate but because of the way I had been feeling, I had a feeling this wasn't going to be a very good race for me. 

Like I mentioned in the weekly wrap, this race was a total trail race.  Lots of running on grass and dodging roots.  We started by doing a half lap on the south trail, exited the trail by the boat launch, and up and around the north trail. We continued back on the South end of the island and instead of going straight on the path, it cut up to the left into a grassy area. This is the area I would have totally missed had I not scoped out the route the night before.  In fact, there were two girls that were behind me the entire race until this point. They passed me and kept going straight. I think they heard me turn up the hill because then I heard them say they messed up.  Somehow they ended up passing me at this point.    

The path was well marked though. Not only were there orange arrows spray painted on the ground, there were also yellow and pink arrows that were on signs that were staked in the ground.  If you wanted to participate in the color fun, there were about 6 to 8  color stations where you could get doused with color.  Even though I opted to not get doused with color, I sure inhaled plenty of it as I was running behind others who were getting sprayed.   Even though I didn't stop for any, I was surprised to see that this race had 2 water stops. Actually it was 4 for the entire race because we ran by each stop twice! 

For a trail race, I finished in a much better time than I had anticipated!  Shortly after I finished I noticed a tent where the official times were being printed off.  I went over to the tent and was excited to see that I had won first in my age group.  I had earned 2nd place wins at other race but never a first.  When it was time for the awards to be announced, it turns out I really only won second place.   After I looked at my time originally, there had been an update. I am not disputing the results in anyway, I am just curious as to how that happens?  If that runner came in before me, Shouldn't her name and time have been printed before mine?  There were only prizes for 1st and 2nd places in each AG  so I was super happy to have won 2nd. 

EXCEPT by the time they got to my age group, they had run out of medals! What?!?!   The lady apologized and said it was her first time organizing this race. She had us and the male winners in that AG write our names and address down and said she would mail the medals to us.  I wasn't mad because of course things happen, but regardless of how many people come to run a race or how many people register on race day YOU STILL NEED THE SAME AMOUNT OF AG MEDALS.  It's not like they were giving medals to every runner who finished and they just happened to run out. I don't understand how you can make a mistake like this but then again I've never organized a race so I am not one to talk. 

After the race awards, there was a huge Chinese Auction.  While I was running the race, Scott and my dad were buying tickets for the auction.  This lasted for about an hour and we had to stay till the end because my dad had put his raffle tickets in the basket for some tickets to a baseball ball game, Which he ended up not winning anyway. 

After the Chinese auction, we went out for lunch ( I had a slice of peanut butter pie to celebrate) and then ran some errands. I don't know if it was all the time spent out in the sun or what, but I felt awful by the time I got home. I took a shower and was out for the rest of the night. Even though I only ran a 5K, I literally felt like I had ran a marathon. My entire body ached and I had a major headache.  I'm thinking that sore throat was the first sign that I was coming down with a cold.

*Edit: I did indeed catch a full blown cold.

What race day mishap have you encounter that could have been prevented? M