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Cash prizes, giveaways, AND family fun?! Why yes, yes we will join in on all the fun!
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Twenty-one days is all it takes.
After twenty-one days of hopping around the south, from the warm, lively dinner table of one friend or family to the next, the southern regions have begun to feel quite home-y again. Sure, it's been over 730 days (2 years) since I've had a Chattanooga address. But a conversation late into the night here and a group get together there, and you begin to feel like you live just down the street again — like you never left. (Boiled peanuts, Chick-fil-a sandwiches, and gallons of sweet tea also help to encourage such sentiments.)
But all good things must come to an end (at least in the world's current condition). And if the visit south had to end, then I couldn't think of a better way to say goodbye than with my dad's suggestion that we run a local 5k together the last morning of the trip — something we used to do all the time growing up!
Pre-Race
One thing I remember about running 5k's with Daddy was how early they tend start (likely to beat the summer heat), which of course translates into an early wake-up time. Thinking back on those middle and high school days, I think my race-day routine was pretty consistent: (1) sleepwalk to the car, (2) doze off for an hour or so while Daddy drove, (3) hop out of the car on arrival, (4) yawn, then (5) toe the starting line and take off!
Even though today's race was nearby, it still gave us the opportunity for some early morning exploring in the dark:
Even though today's race was nearby, it still gave us the opportunity for some early morning exploring in the dark:
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| Green is a good sign! |
Here's the old-school map of the course (note the "Not to Scale"):
After scouting the last mile into the finish during our warm-up, we made our way to the start with just enough time for a quick snapshot:
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All smiles! (Photo: Robbie Robbins)
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The Race
Ready, set...
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Go! Kenyan dude in front was not playing around with cash on the line . . . 15:17 winning time.
(Photo: Ashley Robbins) |
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Me, coming through ~1/2-way (Photo: Robbie Robbins)
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Daddy, coming through ~1/2-way (Photo: Robbie Robbins)
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| Splits: 5:51, 6:02, 6:22 = 18:55. Good enough for 15th overall. Somewhat disappointed in the last mile or so, but needed to back off after feeling somewhat light-headed. Must be the humidity! (Photo: Ashley Robbins) |
Post-Race
I'm surprised that this was my first 5k event on the year, but I couldn't think of a better one to begin with!
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| Me & Daddy with our medals: mine, a 3rd place age-group finish this year; Daddy's, an anticipation of overall Masters' next year. (Photo: Ashley Robbins) |
I'm surprised that this was my first 5k event on the year, but I couldn't think of a better one to begin with!
4 comments:
The man behind you in the last picture is annoyed with your third place medal.
That look is borderline sinister.
What fun to run with your dad! And the mother in me thinks that ladder set-up looks a wee bit dangerous!
The ladder set-up is a bit precarious. Probably why the dude in the yellow shirt is vigilantly keeping watch.
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