Last year I ran my first Run With Santa 5K in softly falling snow, and couldn’t have been happier! Just before the race started, snow started falling and it snowed throughout the entire race. It was glorious, and I dreamed of a repeat this year. The day before this year’s race brought pouring rain to our area, and I was so thrilled when the rain stopped and the sun shone brightly over the runners, that I forgot all about snow.
My MRTT running bestie, Erin, was kind enough to pick up my race packet while I was driving 325 miles across the great Commonwealth of Virginia. When I stopped by her house to pick up my packet, we had a good laugh over the color of the shirt, and decided it was the “ugly sweater” of race shirts. Later that evening I texted her, and asked if it was so bad that the color was really growing on me!
Each =PR= Race Series race has a commemorative pin to go along with the race. They’re cute and I attach them to my running bag. If you notice in the picture above, we also got a race medal with our packet. Last year the medal didn’t have a ribbon attached, so I tied a pretty red and green ribbon on it and hung it on our Christmas tree.
Sunday morning bright and early, Erin picked me up at my house and drove us to the race. Our friendship came full circle with this race. Last year after the race, Potomac River Running shared my race recap on their Facebook page. Erin, who had just run the race, saw it and started following my blog – we had never met. In March she saw my posts about running with my local Moms RUN This Town (MRTT) chapter, and decided to look into joining her local MRTT group. As fate would have it, we were in the same chapter! Since we have similar paces, we became great friends, and have run several hundred miles together since! I can’t even begin to tell you how happy sharing this story makes me!
Erin converted Target slippers into running spats!
Once we arrived at Reston Town Center, Erin and I went out for a one-mile warm-up run… to keep from freezing. The temperature was 34°, but with the wind chill it felt like 22°. I perform much better when I get about a mile under my belt just before a 5K, but this time, I knew that if we stood around too long waiting for the race to start, we would freeze. After our run, we meet our fellow MRTT friends for a quick photo, and then we were off!
I left my friends, and made my way to near the front of the race to secure a place where I wouldn’t have to dodge too many children and walkers at the beginning of the race. Many =PR= Races are family oriented, and they don’t have pace signs for those races. I’ve learned to self-seed myself near the front of the race pack to make the first quarter mile of the race easier. Please don’t get me wrong; I love seeing children running races with their parents. It’s just that it’s frustrating getting behind someone that’s running along, and suddenly stops or darts sideways directly in your path.
With about 2,000 racers, the sea of runners spanned back to the office buildings, and I was satisfied with my place in the pack.
After mentioning a few of the frustrations of running races with lots of children, I want to share some of the joys. I ran along side a father and his son who couldn’t have been more than ten years old. After about 1.5 miles, the father told his son that he could pull ahead and run his own race. The little boy took off, and I didn’t see him again! I caught up with a few other very young children as I approached the finish line, all holding their own, and running much faster and farther than I could have dreamed of at their age!
Since this was a course that I have run several times (and really enjoy), I decided to see how I could do compared to previous races. I haven’t been doing tempo runs lately, but my training runs have been solid runs for the most part.
- 2013 Firecracker 5K – 25:58 (8:23 pace) 7th place age group
- 2013 Run With Santa 5K – 27:35 (8:54 pace) 7th place age group
- 2014 Firecracker 5K – 24:19 (7:50 pace) 3rd place age group
- 2014 Run With Santa 5K – 25:18 (8:10 pace) 3rd place age group
My Garmin showed a total distance 3.16 miles and an 8:01 pace. My split paces were:
- Mile 1 – 7:59
- Mile 2 – 8:02
- Mile 3 – 8:10
- Last .16 mile – 7:06
After the race, Cindy came up to me, introduced herself, and said hello. She mentioned that she remembered running next to me during the Run Your Heart Out 5K back in February, and that PRR had gotten a picture of us near the finish. After talking for just a couple of seconds I remembered her, and I asked her if she had been wearing deely-boppers during the race. Yes, that was her, and as soon as I got home I went back to my race recap and found her in two of our pictures, once with Bill, and once with me. If you scroll up, you’ll see her in my finish line photo for this race as well!
Erin and I reunited with our MRTT friends, and compared race notes. We had lots of goals met, and a few PR’s. Overall, it was a very good day for our chapter!
While hanging out, we saw this Christmas jester, and asked him for a photo. He readily agreed as long as the ladies posed with him!
And then Erin and I found another tutu wearing jester, and of course we couldn’t control ourselves… A picture was absolutely mandatory, and our new friend obliged!
Just as we were heading back to the car to get our coats, we stopped these beautifully dressed ladies and asked for a picture for my blog. Christin (on the right) recognized us from pictures we post to our MRTT Facebook page. She’s also a member of our chapter, but with 405 members, we hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting her yet.
One of the things I love about the =PR= Races at Reston Town Center is the children’s fun runs just before the awards ceremony. This time, it was fun to see Santa racing with the youngsters!
My third place age group finish earned me a gift certificate to Potomac River Running Store!
And as soon as the award ceremony was over, Erin treated me to a hot chocolate – skimmed milk with whipped cream… Just the way I like it!
Back home after the race, Bill asked me if I’d had a fun time. I think he already knew the answer, because I was still beaming from ear-to-ear, and chattering away about the morning’s events. I truly love running in =PR= Races because they always do such a great job. Their races are well organized, well attended, and they allow you to download your race pictures for free!
- Questions:
- Have you run in a Christmas themed race?
- Do you like running on repeat courses?
- How do you like your hot chocolate?
Nice job Deb! I loved reading how you and Erin met! I ran the Pacers Jingle Bell 5K and I wish they were on different weekends b/c I love the PRR events too 🙂 The Jingle Bell is just much closer to home 🙂
Jennifer recently posted…2014 Jingle Bell All the Way 5K Race Recap
I’ve never run Jingle All The Way. I should run it sometime!
Now that looks fun! I have a holiday race Saturday. Congrats on your time and award! Oh, and I’m not picky about the hot chocolate. As long as chocolate Is in it, I’m good.
HoHo Runs recently posted…Run for the Redfish Recap
Good luck on your holiday race on Saturday. Have fun!
I love the PR races and their bling! We did the Jingle all the way the same day. It was pretty chilly at the start huh? Your pics look a lot like ours. I love all the huge MRTT photos and everyone always gets so into it. Nice job on the finish. You’ve gotten really speedy this year. I should come run with you 🙂
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner recently posted…Jingle All The Way 5k
Thanks, Deborah! Yes, come run with us! I have something up my sleeve for 2015, and it’s going to bring me closer to you on a couple of Saturdays for group runs! Stay tuned!
I love that story about you and Erin, how fun! Her costume was awesome!! I did the Jingle All the Way 8k last year by Pacers and was registered for it this year too but wasn’t able to run due to this bad bronchitis I can’t seem to shake!
Sue @ This Mama Runs for Cupcakes recently posted…12 Days of Christmas Giveaway: Day 3–Apera Bags
Feel better, Sue!
Hope you’re finally feeling better, Sue!
That sounds like SO much fun and I love all the costumes.
Courtney @ Don’t Blink. Just Run. recently posted…Minor Blog Entry, Major Announcement
Some of the people (like most of my MRTT friends) are pretty serious about their costumes for this race! It’s a fun race to people-watch!
Love the holiday races! My favorite–and I will argue the best on the E. Coast–is the Celtic Solstice 5-miler, which is this weekend. Cannot wait!
misszippy1 recently posted…Even the elites rest (guest post)
Have fun at “the best race on the East Coast!” Looking forward to your recap.
I love the festive colours your group is wearing! And what a cool story about how you met Erin and have now run many miles together.
Congratulations on another speedy race and an age-group placing!
I don’t know if I’ve ever ran a race course twice. It would be nice to do to compare times!
Abby recently posted…Rest and relaxation before the holidays
Thanks, Abby!
Great job on your AG finish, Deb! And I am with you 100% on running races with kids. They are awesome and really fast — until they stop in front of you. 🙂 I did this race and loved it last year in the snow. The crowd really goes all out with the costumes and it’s a great start to the holidays.
Anne recently posted…Race Report: Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon
I was secretly hoping for snow again this year.
My very first race was a holiday 5K! It was so much fun! Such a cool race atmosphere 🙂
Last year’s Run With Santa was my first Christmas race. I’ve run a Thanksgiving morning race for years, but RWS was the first Christmas themed race for me.
This makes my heart so happy! Can’t wait for more miles and memories in 2015 and beyond!
Me, too! 🙂
I’ve seen your posts on the MRTT group, but I didn’t realize that you had a blog. I’ll be reading a long now. I’m the chapter leader in the Gainesville group. I love your running “team”. It’s like a version of my team in 10 years time. I have two younger boys that run. We were at Run with Santa as well. My kids are starting to get fast enough to beat me if I’m having an off day. With regard to kids at 5Ks, I wish more parents would either start their kids at the back if they know they are going to be not running a consistent pace and would also teach them proper race etiquette. Obviously, I’m all for kids running, but I always make sure that mine start in the appropriate place in the pack (which is getting closer and closer to the front). I also ran their first several races with them to teach them how to not weave in front of other runners and how to ease yourself over to the side if you need to slow down or stop.
Thanks for visiting my blog, Heather! I’ll pop over and visit yours this evening. I think a lot of the parents of children who run some of the fun local races are newbies themselves, and just aren’t aware of “racing etiquette.” Because of that, I try to not get upset when I get cut off, or I get boxed in by walkers the first quarter mile in a race.
Looks like you had a lot of fun! I love Reston Town Center during the holidays. I’ve never run a Christmas-themed race, but I may need to now!
Jess recently posted…Williams-Sonoma Smoothie Week: strawberry banana bean smoothie
You would love running a Christmas themed race! Next year sign up for Run With Santa 5K, and we can do a pre-race meet-up! 🙂
Kids fun runs are the cutest thing ever! Congrats on your improvement from last year to this year. Running 3.16 miles in this race just makes up for your short distance at the Thanksgiving 5K, right? 🙂 I think the shirts are cute, but maybe the green of the shirt doesn’t show it’s true color in the picture.
Meagan recently posted…Christmas Traditions – Part 1
I like the way you think, Meagan – 3.16 miles in this race totally makes up for the 3.06 miles that my Garmin showed for my Thanksgiving morning race!
The shirt color in the picture is pretty true to it’s actual color. It’s grown on me, and I think it’s fun
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[…] morning Erin and I met our MRTT friends at Reston Town Center for the Run With Santa 5K. We had a great showing from our chapter, and it was so fun to see these four young […]
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