Race-of-the-Month Club

I've been trying to sign up for about one race per month.

If things go as planned, I'll hit all but two months between May of 2011 and October of 2012. And I've got two scheduled for July. So....17 races in 18 months.

Not bad.

This month's race was a 5-miler in Fort Wayne. This race also had an option for a 20K (about 12.4 miles), but I've kind of decided to focus less on the distance runs and more on the adventure-slash-trail races.

I ran with two co-workers, one being a total hard-core ninja who went for the 20K (you're a rock-star Sandy!!), and the other being my regular running partner, Erin.  Erin's not been available for most of the other races I've signed up for, so this was actually her first official race since the days of high school cross country in North Branch, Michigan.

Erin and I are very similar in our running capabilities, and we literally crossed the finish line together. Ben asked if I grabbed her hand and held it overhead while running through the finish-line arch, but unfortunately I hadn't thought of that idea beforehand otherwise I totally would have done it.

I didn't hit my goal of 45:00, but I'm reasonably pleased with my finish time of 46:03.

As a brief aside, Justin and Erin graciously agreed to drive me to the race to allow Ben to take the kids to Angola. Mandy, the aggravatingly annoying voice on Erin's Tom-Tom GPS, has proven herself to be less-than-trustworthy once again, as she led us to a totally off-the-beaten-path, random location that turned out to be fifteen miles beyond where we were actually supposed to be:

Mandy: You have arrived at your destination.
Justin: .....uh.....I have? This looks like someone's house. 

But, we made it to the race on time, it was a perfect day for a run, and Justin got to witness what he described as a totally-awesome vomit story, of which I shall spare you the details. Rest assured that neither Erin nor myself were actually a part of it, so I consider that a WIN.

Next month: 10-mile trail run in Winona Lake.