Panerathon 5k (Race Recap)

Westminster, CO

Sunday, September 18
A's 3rd 5k
Weather - Warm, Sunny

This was a spur of the moment decision to run this race. I knew A was going to be upset that I was going to be gone for the weekend (we haven't traveled sans kids since mid July), so I asked her if she wanted to run the Panerathon 5k with me, and of course she said yes. I had never run the 5k course, but I had run the 10k in 2008 and 2009.

Emergency was that A wanted to matchy matchy, BUT she wanted to wear a sparkle skirt... Luckily the gals at Team Sparkle got me my turquoise skirt in just a couple of days. A picked out our shirts and socks. What a fashionista!

The race is SUPER close to home, and is super accessible and family/dog friendly. Not the best course if you are looking to PR, but an overall good time. We got there just in time to see the kid's race, which H was doing (A had done that in 2009 and 2010). For one of the first times, there was no falling. Yay!

H is sparkly too!

A's VERY FIRST timing chip!

We didn't have long before the race started, but we were parked really close to the starting area, so getting our shirts and running back to the car to drop stuff off and leave our sweatshirts was no big deal. It was 47 degrees on our drive in, but already warming up. (It was actually WARMER temperature-wise in North Dakota... just goes to show you the difference wind and humidity can make).

The 10k was starting at 8:00, and we were starting at 8:05. We were getting in line for the bathrooms when we saw my mom (walking the 5k), and I had her take this picture of us:

We pretty much walked right from the bathroom to the starting line. Even though we were "running," that pace is pretty much a walking pace for a lot of adults, so we started in the back and figured we would work our way up closer as we were running. I just love getting pictures of A in action!

Rocking her Razzy Roo headband and Team Sparkle skirt

We got TONS of compliments on our outfits. The race is mostly women and they just thought it was so cute that we were dressed alike (matchy, matchy), and the sparkles are ALWAYS a big hit.

It was starting to warm up already, and I knew that A had started out a bit too fast. She took a lot more walk breaks than she usually does, but I have to take into consideration the circumstances. It was warmer, she has never raced at elevation, the course was more hilly, and, let's face it, this race NEVER stood a chance as being as fun as a Disney race... But, she still kept a smile on her face! And she was already asking me, "Mom, when can I run a 10k with you?" I told her to ask me again after she turns 6...

The only aid station on the course was about 1.2 miles in, and we stopped and took some water. As we headed back out, we saw the leaders in the 5k already heading back. SPEEDY! That's when the course really got congested. As you can see, the trail is not that wide and we were finally having it be a "two lane road" - and just imagine the strollers and dogs mixed in! Not to mention the people running side by side (GUILTY). The turnaround was in a tunnel (strange), and it's a good thing that I was running with A because there was no volunteer there telling people to turn around, just a sign, and I'm not sure if she would have known what to do. The course isn't QUITE an out and back, so the turnaround was around 1.75 miles in. I know the course REALLY well, since it's the trail  L and I did all our long runs on last summer. I was able to keep A pumped by letting her know where we were. We saw my mom right at this mile marker! A gave her a hug and "bumps" and we headed out.

She was getting tired and walking more, but she was still really energized. We stopped at the water station, and for the way back, it was only about .75  until the finish line. A kept HERSELF pumped by chanting things like "Victory!" with her arms in a V or saying "I'm a champion" or "I'm a winner." Hilarious. When she started to get REALLY tired, she kept grabbing my hand for "energy."

Here she is with less than a half mile to go!

I could tell when we had less than a quarter mile to go, and even though she was definitely exhausted, she really wanted to sprint to the finish line. A woman came out of nowhere and tried to get around us at the beginning of the final stretch. A saw her out of the corner of her eye, turned her head and snarled at her. Probably not nice, but it was hilarious. L got a video of us sprinting toward the finish!

Super pleased with A's performance. Even with all her extra walk breaks, she still got a new personal best! And my watch even measured the course long. Here are her stats (I let her cross JUST before me, so all mine are one place off, and her time is 1 second faster):

Official Time - 43:07
Official Pace - 13:55
Overall Place - 262/380 (WOW!!!)
Gender Place - 163/257
Division Place - 14/20 (12 and under)
Garmin Time - 43:10
Garmin Distance - 3.22 miles
Garmin Pace - 13:24
Mile 1 - 12:07
Mile 2&3 - 29:10 (oops)
Mile 3.1ish - 10:49

Disney spoiled her, and one of the first things she asked was, "Where is my medal?" I told her the satisfaction of being able to run a 5k was her reward. She was ok with that. The best part of this race? The food. Since Panera Bread is the main sponsor, the food ROCKS. Three types of sandwiches, 4 types of pastries, cookies, bagels, apples (you know, if you want to pretend to be healthy). SO GOOD.

After we got done eating, A went for a ride around the parking lot in an old fire truck (no good picture, sorry), and got her face painted (she says it's a puppy):

We hung around the area a bit, Road Runner was having a special sale for race day... 25% off for VIPs. The Pearl Izumi's I had tried seemed SO heavy and bulky that I decided to exchange. Next up (after this weekends race), Nike.

Random picture, thought it was cute

Overall, it was an awesome race, and a pretty much awesome day. We spent the afternoon at an amusement park, enjoying a late summer day of mid 70s.