Crim: Festival of the Races

Happy Monday!!!

Yes...I've become one of those people that actually looks forward to Mondays.

I'm coming off a fabulous weekend, and can't wait to recap it all, so let's start with the first half of it.

Rose and I decided to head up a day early to the Crim to do some shopping at an outlet mall a few miles north of Flint, but truth... we didn't find a single thing to purchase. Seriously...a) nothing fit the way I wanted/needed it to fit and b) I wanted outlet prices not normal retail prices. Anyone else experience a hike in outlet prices?

Anywhoo...we finally got to the Expo around 5ish, maybe.

We made our way through the Expo, picked up our packets and tee's, and headed back to the hotel.

Two things:

1. I don't need any more cotton tee's so how about you let me waive $5 so that I don't get one?! I know a lot of races are doing this and I think it's a fab idea!
2. They gave you an option to buy the tech tee for $15.... love it! seriously especially since it's a Brooks shirt.

Thanks to Yelp, we found Luigi's which had amazing reviews, awesome pizza and a full house. Not my typical pre-race meal but I would highly recommend Luigi's to anyone who visits Flint.

The next morning came early, and despite wanting to shuttle from the hotel to the start line, probably about a mile away, the road blocks were already up and we had to hoof it. Thankfully the lovely lady at Holiday Inn told us to cut through the UofM-Flint campus to shave off some mileage. Having taken the long way the previous day, it really did make a difference.

I know plenty of people who drove up the day of the race, but with a 8 oclock start time, and the fact that you needed to find parking, I was glad we stayed the night early.

For it being the 35th Anniversary, it was packed! 

starting line ahead of me

While waiting in the portapotty line,  I even got to chat with the lady who won the race in 1989.

starting line behind me

the worst part for me is always the waiting until the gun goes off and we finally cross the tag pads, but off we were and let me tell me... this was a fast run.

I don't know if it was the newness of the course, race or the massive amounts of people but the time just flew by.

The hills were also somewhat disappointing... seriously, everyone talks about those Bradley Hills, and I haven't done a ton of hill training but seriously, it was nothing to right home about.

Here's a steep one

 The 2 from last weeks 5k were considerably more daunting than any of the ones I ran this past weekend...

Here's another steep one

There was plenty of entertainment and water stops along the course and the only bummer was the lack of Krispy Kreme's... I was hoping to have one, but instead had to eat Skittles.

no joke, this dude was dribbling 3 basketballs while running

So this was my first time trying candy instead of official training fuel, and I have to say I was quite happy with my Skittles choice. After eating training fuel, I typically have dry mouth and need something to wash down the snack but I didn't seem to have that problem with the Skittles, and at $0.79 a pack vs the $1 minimum... I think I'll be sticking to my Skittles!

Anywhoo.. it was a fun run, and one I could see myself doing yearly... it of course helps when your surrounded by fun peeps and get a medal for a training run!

Can you juggle while running?
If not, wish you had a talent you could do while running?