2005 Keep Austin Weird 5k
Here's the report for the Keep Austin Weird 5k. Dru, Roger and I headed down to the race around 3:30 PM. We arrived in good time and lucked out on a parking spot on the street. We walked across a field behind Palmer to Auditorium shores for the start of the race. We wandered around the grounds from about 4-4:45 then did a quick warm up and stretch session and got in line with the other 3200 runners to start the race. There were all manner of different people there. Runners, walkers, old, young, 4-legged, costumed, you name it.
This is not a typical race. They start the timed runners first, then the untimed "weirdos" after that. The race start time (5 PM) came and went. It was hot. We were ready to go. We waited and waited. Apparently they hadn't gotten the race route cleared on time. Finally at about 5:15, we got to start. It was hot.
We had decided before the race that we were going to run the 1st mile and if we got separated, we would meet at the Amy's Ice Cream stop at mile 1 (I told you, not the typical race). About half a mile in, I thought I was going to die and started to walk. It was hot. Dru and Roger and I kept pace with each other. The first part of the race was a huge hill. For those in Austin, we ran south on Congress Ave from Riverside. It is a big hill. It was hot.
The water stops were not well organized and we basically had to stop and wait to get a water with a big mash of people. Sometimes I would run ahead and then wait for Roger and Dru to come along. Dru trotted the entire time, Roger and I mostly walked at the same pace as Dru's trotting. It was hot.
We finally made a turn off Congress and we were on more even ground. People in the neighborhood we went through had sprinklers in the street and people were running through them along the course. It was hot.
We finally made the turn onto South 1st - heading back north towards Riverside. We passed by Secret Oktober and decided to head in for a quick A/C break. (Did I mention it was hot outside?) After our visit to Secret Oktober, we continued on, passing a beer stop and a BBQ stop and a more well organized water stop. It was hot.
Finally, we caught site of the finish and the mile 3 marker. We agreed to sprint the last 1/10th of a mile. We took off running. My heart rate soared to 209 and I freaked out a little and slowed up. Dru and Roger slowed up with me and we crossed the finish together, an hour after we started. We grabbed some water and a banana (potassium good, but eating after all that was really hard) and cooled down a little before stretching and then heading home.
This is not a typical race. They start the timed runners first, then the untimed "weirdos" after that. The race start time (5 PM) came and went. It was hot. We were ready to go. We waited and waited. Apparently they hadn't gotten the race route cleared on time. Finally at about 5:15, we got to start. It was hot.
We had decided before the race that we were going to run the 1st mile and if we got separated, we would meet at the Amy's Ice Cream stop at mile 1 (I told you, not the typical race). About half a mile in, I thought I was going to die and started to walk. It was hot. Dru and Roger and I kept pace with each other. The first part of the race was a huge hill. For those in Austin, we ran south on Congress Ave from Riverside. It is a big hill. It was hot.
The water stops were not well organized and we basically had to stop and wait to get a water with a big mash of people. Sometimes I would run ahead and then wait for Roger and Dru to come along. Dru trotted the entire time, Roger and I mostly walked at the same pace as Dru's trotting. It was hot.
We finally made a turn off Congress and we were on more even ground. People in the neighborhood we went through had sprinklers in the street and people were running through them along the course. It was hot.
We finally made the turn onto South 1st - heading back north towards Riverside. We passed by Secret Oktober and decided to head in for a quick A/C break. (Did I mention it was hot outside?) After our visit to Secret Oktober, we continued on, passing a beer stop and a BBQ stop and a more well organized water stop. It was hot.
Finally, we caught site of the finish and the mile 3 marker. We agreed to sprint the last 1/10th of a mile. We took off running. My heart rate soared to 209 and I freaked out a little and slowed up. Dru and Roger slowed up with me and we crossed the finish together, an hour after we started. We grabbed some water and a banana (potassium good, but eating after all that was really hard) and cooled down a little before stretching and then heading home.
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