Race for the Cure recap

Guys I have been so busy at work lately. The last thing I feel like doing is getting on the computer again after work.  I've been trying to write this post since Monday, but I'm finally getting to it!!

My company sponsored the Susan Komen Race for the Cure this year. We put together a team of 48 employes, their friends, and family. And we got everyone team t-shirts.

The race was this past Saturday in City Park in New Orleans. We got there around 8:15, and the race was set to start at 9:30. I knew it would be crowded because last year there were 17,000 participants. I think I found some info online that said there were 12,000 participants this year. It was insane!!! We parked a good mile or so away. When we arrived it took 30 minutes to find other people from our team. I never actually got everyone together because it was just so crowded.

They started calling people to line up around 9:20. We got in like close to what we thought was the start line. It was really just too many people in one spot. I never even heard a gun go off. We walked very slowly for a while before we got to an open area to even start running. And at that point I started my watch. I knew I wouldn't be able to trust what the clock said at the end. The first .5+ mile was spent weaving in and out of really slow walkers and dodging people on the grass, the road, the railroad tracks... Once we finally got out of City Park and into the road it was fine. I ran with my friends most of the time. On the last 1.5 we split up. Once I looked down and realized I only had a mile left I started sprinting a little faster. According the my watch at the end I went 3.14 miles in 33:43. I was extremely happy with that time! Especially considering it was with a group of 12,000 other people, most of them walking! The clock said 45 minutes when I got to the end. I guess that means we walked like 12 minutes before even getting started.

With an event like this there are so many people who do it to support the cause, not competitively. So I knew it wouldn't be a good indication of how I'm doing. I had a goal to finish in less than 35 minutes and I did it! I hadn't done a race in a while. So this was my first official race that I ran the entire thing.

It was a great event. I loved seeing the survivors in their shirts! It was really inspiring! I did wish they had organized it a little better though. Some of our employees said they didn't even get to start until well after the first person finished! Here's a few pics from the day.

 

Afterwards a big group of us went to the Rum House on Magazine Street! It was awesome!  Then we went to the Bulldog (a beer bar) to watch the rest of the LSU game.  I found this sign, and I loved it!  

 "To Live Without Beer is to Not Live At All."  

Word.

X0-Heather