Natalie Cobb's Staging Area

A couple of weeks prior to the Terror Trot, I received an email from Anderson Races that included a $20 registration discount code good for any of their upcoming fall races. Being that cost to participate in the Terror Trot 5K was at $45 by then, the discount meant that even with online handling fees, I could sign up for this race (and take home a fleece and a finishers medal) for under $30.

Ok … you know me. And Halloween. And costuming. And races.

So even though I’m in terrible shape right now, I figured what the heck?!

As you know, I have run the Shell Lake “Lake Run” 5K for several years now. My first run was in 2011 … followed by another go in 2012. Then, my first recap was in 2013, followed by more recaps in years 2014, 2015, and 2016.

So you may ask … after two weeks of procrastinating … what’s with the delay in writing the 2017 recap?

I guess you can already sense my “enthusiasm” for this year’s race … no?

… Since this race is not likely to change, I’ve decided to do is ask myself: why is it that I keep coming back to this race?

Here’s the answer to that question, in three parts.

#1 … this race is a built in workout on a holiday weekend, where I’m likely to overeat anyway, and could use the extra help.

#2 … my husband is fairly willing to run this with me, and it’s fun to have a family 5K event to do at least once a year anyway.

And new in 2017, reason #3 …. drum roll … family costume contest!!

So there I was on race day, with the announcer in the pool area stating the swim will start in 5 minutes, and I’m playing damage control in the locker room. Good times. Nothing beats feeling like a 14 year old girl all over again. Too bad I couldn’t just tie a shirt around my waist and call it a day.

I suppose it was only fitting to add the above mess to the guaranteed blow out that Tri U Mah #3 was bound to be for me. In fact, several days in advance of gun time, my friend and I who do this every year together were jokingly calling this race: Dumpster Fire 2016.

Every year at the beginning of the Rainbow Run race recap I say this, so might as well repeat it again and officially make it a tradition: you may recall that I’m a founding racer for the Minneapolis Rainbow Run 5K. Since the very first year it existed, I have run this race…

Women Run the Cities 10K (6.2 miles)
1:24:34
Average Pace 13:37/mile

It’s no secret that I love Women Run the Cities. In fact, I love it so much that for the last three years now, I have run this race. In 2014 I ran the 5K with a friend, and in 2015 I dropped down from the 10 mile to the 10K to “run” (since I was pregnant I don’t know that it was so much “running”, but whatever).

Of course, it would have been ultimate justice to have run the 10 mile for the race this year to make up for last year’s drop down, but … being that I hardly have time to eat and sleep these days, training has obviously taken a back seat. Not that I’m upset about that, it’s just reality.

On a side note to that, my goal has been to get back into a more regular running routine this fall, which is actually happening. But despite getting back into a somewhat regular running schedule, realistically I don’t see myself taking on a longer race (IE 10 miles +) again until 2017.

Anyway – back on point. Women Run the Cities.

For 2016, after much debate, I decided to do the 10K with my sister. Both she and I have lost our running mojo in the last year due to various reasons, and we figured what better than a race on the books to get us up and running – literally. And quite frankly, it worked, as we both obviously made it to race day…

The year 2016 marks my 6th year competing in the Shell Lake “Lake Run” 5K. My history with this race started back in 2011 (when I placed first in my age category), continued on in 2012, and then began being featured on this blog with reports in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

And – FUN FACT: if you revisit my 2015 post, you may see a hint of me saying I was pregnant at this race and knew it … without officially saying I was pregnant. If you’ve ever experienced morning sickness, go back and re-read that blog – you’ll know what I’m talking about. Officially, though, I didn’t announce my pregnancy until some weeks later. Sneaky, right?

Ooof. I DO NOT miss morning sickness …

Husband to son: “There’s poop on your foot!”

Me, thinking to self: This is how this race is going to start? Really? *sigh* Mom of the year award over here.

—

As I stated in my previous race recap, race day preparations sure have changed for me now that I’ve got a kid to manage. I can honestly say worrying about who has poop on their foot would never have been anywhere near to a concern of mine on race day prior to 2016.

Mom life.

Yes, I’m laughing at myself. Don’t take this too seriously.

Anyway, on 4th of July Monday this year, I again found myself getting ready for the Siren Freedom Five. This was officially my 5th year of running this race, with previous completions in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 …

In honor of my nephew attempting this as his first “real” 5K, where he was going to be keeping pace with adults, for this year’s race my sister and I went all out and bought some new costumes. Well … if all out means spending $10 on a crappy (yet surprisingly well made) stewardess costume, and a pilot shirt and hat for my nephew.

LOL!

So yes, it’s true. After several years of my nephew participating in various 5Ks that we all attended, for some reason this year he decided he wanted to graduate from participating (walking with his dad) to actually RACING. Hooray!

Knowing this would be a pretty big bite to chew for my nephew, who hasn’t done any training to cover a 5K distance, my sister and I decided to once again use the 2/1 interval function on my GPS watch…

After having a blast last year, we decided to race Tri U Mah again in 2016. I mean … who’s going to let a pregnancy slow them down? Or an ER visit for that matter?

So on that note, in what you can see is optimal race condition for me physically, the Saturday following my ER admission I meandered on down to the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center to throw down for my first official race of 2016.

It’s a good thing we didn’t arrive at race check-in a second later. We were literally the last ones to get there, and the race directors instructed everyone to begin lining up while we were still pinning on our bibs.

Once our bibs were on, we followed all the other races as they moseyed from the park pavilion and play area over to the trail where the start line was marked. There, the race director made a few general announcements – you know, the usual stuff like: the course layout, the water stop located roughly at the half way point, and some information about next year’s race. Which, good news there, they are hoping to be more timely in announcing their race date in 2016. (Boy, I sure do hope that’s the case, because the current system simply just doesn’t work for anyone who doesn’t have a child enrolled at this school. People need to have at least a couple month’s notice to make sure they have the day free, and so that they can get registered.)

With the last few announcements made, all the racers sort of sandwiched onto the trail, which is called the Paul Bunyan trail in case you’ve never heard of it. And then, without too much more to be said – we were off!

All in all, Women Run the Cities proved to again be a well run race with volunteers who are not only enthusiastic but also well equipped to do whatever job they are staffed to do. In fact, I don’t doubt that I’ll end up running this race again next year. Though … the distance may be debatable. LOL!

Truly, this isn’t a BAD race, it’s just not particularly exciting or interesting. My only real reason for running it again this year was the fact that signing up for this race would force me to get in some sort of workout over labor day weekend. Otherwise, I’d be sitting at the cabin getting fat. So as I hit about mile 0.5 or 0.75ish and burped … a bit more than a burp … I was not loving life. And was REALLY wishing for some on course distractions. Which unfortunately never came.

Despite my lack of training for this race, and my disappointing finish time, overall I thought this was a great race. Why? Well, unlike many of the larger chain races you see in the big cities, you could tell this race was put on by the heart of Walker’s community – there was a real sense of pride in their offering of the race, and they were truly enthusiastic that we were there … no matter how fast our pace.

Plus, I found the field of participants amazingly friendly. Everyone was genuinely encouraging to each other. Even when someone passed me on the bike course, they didn’t go by without at least a short, friendly hello or comment about the nice day or the beautiful X-Y-Z we were biking by at that specific point in the course.

Since I had done packet pickup the day previous, my husband drove me right up to the race start right around 7:45, which proved to be more than ample time to line up for the start scheduled for 8am. We spent some of our spare time people watching, which proved disappointing again this year. Well … not 100% disappointing. We did see an elite runner who ran the entire distance with red, white and blue elastic suspenders and shorts (no shirt). And apparently, there was a “strong man” running who had a 4 wheeler tied to his waist, per my husband’s report (I didn’t see him). But, overall the attire was remarkably drab given the festive nature of the race. At least we were amused by the race announcer, who always proves to be an excellent entertainer.

Eventually, with about 5 minutes until go time, the announcer called all runners to the start line. I said my goodbyes to my husband and moseyed over to the start…

Nothing quite gets the adrenaline pumping on race day like seeing a bear lurking around a cemetery roughly 2 miles away from your race start point, waiting for traffic so it can cross the road. Am I right?

And no, in case you think I’m joking, I’m not. Let’s just say that post sighting, I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the thought of a run out in the country where that bear was roaming free.

But then again, this is a fairly large race for small town Wisconsin, so strength in numbers …? Or maybe it is technically survival of the fittest? I mean, I knew I wouldn’t be the SLOWEST runner in the pack, so if that bear was hungry …

While there were a few minor snags in the event, overall, I would definitely consider running again in 2016. Despite the mailing fiasco, which I think was probably an anomaly, RAM does a great job of organizing their events and really wants you to enjoy yourself while you’re there (unlike other large race organizers – ahem – you know who I’m thinking of).

Around 5 or so months ago, a group of run friends I know started talking about doing the Hot Chocolate race together in 2015.

Ah – before I get too far in this recap – I have to admit, I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to do this race. You already know that I’m not a fan of chain races that advertise their AH-maze-ING swag, but offset that with enormous headcounts and packed courses. Not to mention, I am … less than impressed … with races that motivate you to burn *some* calories by enabling you to consume *a lot more than you burned* calories at the finish line. (I think races like this give people an unrealistic concept of what’s appropriate post race fueling in comparison to how many calories you actually burn during a run; IE: an average runner burns 10 calories/min, and at a 30 minute 5K pace that’s 300 calories … which isn’t much when you’re trying to offset a post race chocolate feast.)

Hmmm … now that I said the above, I’m realizing this race sounds very Bacon Chase, no?

Anyway, despite my reservations of this race being a “crammed course calorie fest”, and the fact that I haven’t been running much at all since my feet issues last fall, I let a few of my friends who ran this last year convince me to give this race a shot.

OK, ok. They didn’t have to convince me that much to do it. It was scheduled to be on my birthday, after all. I mean, who can say no to chocolate fondue in your honor?!

Not that I’m a chocoholic or anything. But then again, I also don’t exactly like to share my stash.

If you like the feeling of a big race, with the accompanying amenities like post race party and nice finisher’s medal … but have ever wished there was more involvement by race directors to make the big race feel more personal and fun … well, look no further, because this race is what you’ve been looking for.

Mankato offers the best of both race worlds – it’s big enough to have good amenities, but in a small enough town to make it feel like you matter as a racer. Add in the fact that it’s a slightly rolling course with a big downhill finish during the fall leave splendor … what more could you ask for?

Knowing that I had no opportunity to medal in 2014, something changed for me on course this year. I think my heart just wasn’t in this race. Don’t get me wrong, I had a fine performance, but I wasn’t LOVING every second of the run.

Aside from a well managed water stop at the turn around point, overall this race left me feeling a little blah… I really don’t recall much of anything worth reporting. The only thing I can say is that in the last 1/4 of a mile, there were three women ahead of me that could have been in my age category. So, as I turned the final corner and started the last straight stretch to the finish line, I decided to try to sprint and beat them to the finish.

I hate to say it, but the age placement awards ceremony made me even more disappointed in this race. Unlike years previous, this year there was only a medal offered to the first place runner in each age category. While I can understand wanting to do that from a cost perspective, to me it seemed that this change took away the one last thing that made this race fun. With top 3, I knew I’d at least have a chance to bring home a medal. With only 1st place… it’s not likely that I will ever medal again.

With my goal of 2014 to register for more meaningful races, the above recap makes me realize – maybe this race isn’t for me anymore? I need some time to think on it… let’s see where 2015 takes me.

You’re not going to believe me when I say this, but I was really struggling with the idea of doing this race for 2014. I’ve run it twice in the past (once in 2013, once in 2011), and in remembering the long, sunny, hot run … well, I just wasn’t all that thrilled about the idea of doing it again.

However, after taking such a lax approach to race registrations this year, and actually kind of missing having a race on the schedule, I decided what the heck. I figured I’d be in Siren anyway due to the holiday, so this was kinda a gimme. Besides, the cost of this race is exceptionally low – just $15. You can’t beat small town pricing!!

So, just before the June 15th cut off, I mailed in my registration and crossed my fingers that I could start cramming in speed work to get my 5K pace back up. Oh, and I began costume planning, of course.

Last year I ran the Lake Minnetonka Half. It was a painful, hilly hell. For some reason I forgot all about that and registered again for 2014. It was painful again, but for another reason entirely.

A few spectators on course take pity on us, and start handing out cans of beer. I always seem to be a bit early or late, and miss all these chances – BOO!

And when things can’t get any worse, the mist clears and it starts to rain again. Hard. With the wind picking up. And thunder.

A switch flips in my head. I check out. It’s no longer “I can and I will.” It’s just – I want to go home. My hands are so cold that I can’t feel them anymore. My fingers are locking up and I cannot bend or unbend them. I try to stay warm by tucking my hands under my armpits and keep trudging forward. My pace in the last two miles shows the switch, too. I went from an average of 10-11 minutes per mile to 15 and 20 minutes per mile. Ugh.

Behind me, the police are picking up the cones and letting traffic go through. Ahead of me, since they have steered me off course and down a side street, there is nothing. I am walking on a road that is open to traffic, with nothing to protect me except the sag wagon on my butt and a handful of runners around me.

But of course, the sag wagon doesn’t offer to DRIVE any of us to the pick up point.

A bunch of us runners start to have a hate spiral. We can’t understand why we’re being treated like this, and why there isn’t a better rescue plan given the extreme weather rolling in.

More and more runners disappear as good Samaritans offer people rides back to the finish line.

Finally, I am one of four runners in a clump working their way down the hill. A cop takes pity on us, and offers us a ride to the finish line. I end up in the back seat of an unmarked squad car with two women, lights flashing. Finally, the last runner relents and gets in with us.

This is the best part: he was dressed like Wolverine. Full on foam padded muscles, razor paws, and drinking what must be his third beer – a 24 ounce can of Coors Light. He simply hops in the front seat of the squad car and says “I’ll do you a favor and get off course, but I’m not giving up my beer. I won’t tell if you won’t tell.”

True story.

I’ve done Get Lucky three times, Monster Dash twice, and the Minneapolis Du. Every time, without fail, something has gone wrong due to poor management on Team Ortho’s end. Problems run the gamut from extremely late starts, to lack of goodies at the finish line, to bait and switch offerings (like this promise for a free beer, and then not having it organized so that early packet pickup folks can actually get their beer coupon)… I can’t think of a single Team Ortho race I did where there weren’t a handful of issues during or post race.

And when I compare that to the fact that I did 15 races in 2013 alone, and none of the other races have any similar pitfalls or execution problems, it begins to make me wonder what the issue is.

So where does this leave me?

I don’t forsee myself doing any other Team Ortho events for awhile… if ever again. With races like Mankato and TC, I’d far prefer to spend my money on events ran by people who know how to organize a good race… not a sub par one.

Overall, I have to say, this was a really fun race. It was a nice fast & flat route through an area I would likely never have seen had I skipped this race (I’ve never made it to Chinatown in Chicago prior), and despite a few potholes and HUGE rain puddles, it wasn’t a bad route. As an added bonus, there where three – yes, three!! – water stops. A great plus for a hot July race… although maybe not so necessary for a rainy day.

You can definitely tell this event is run by people who are truly passionate about it. The woman shown above in the Hello Kitty photo was the main organizer, and she was just so bubbly and cute. Every other word out of her mouth while announcing was either “disclosure” (to announce another prize was about to be drawn, which just made me laugh) or “thank you” – to either the volunteers at the event, the business who sponsored the event, or even to the runners for sticking it out despite the rain and the course snafu (they had to make a last second route change and revert to the 2013 map shown above, which really didn’t bother me at all).

The passion for organizing this event was so strong that it was obvious beyond the announcer as well. The man taking photos post race had the biggest smile on his face that I think I have ever seen, the volunteers at the check-in booth were some of the best I’ve ever had, and the groups at every water stop were not only ready to go but non stop cheering for everyone on course.

I cannot think of a single thing that was disappointing about this race. Even the rain made it an adventure. In fact, I think that’s the heaviest rain I have ever ran in… and it was definitely an experience.