I had a comp entry to a local race today and to be honest, it's not the kind of race I would normally run. It falls into the category of run I call the "gimmick" run. You know the ones I am talking about; Color runs, Laser Runs, Zombie runs, any kind of costume run, etc. I guess if these races get people off their butts and outside for a run that's a good thing, but I think they have gone to the the opposite extreme from uber-competitive races. For example, today's 5k had people finishing in 45 minutes and slower. Not just 1 or 2, but over 500 people walking/jogging/staggering across the finish line in times ranging from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. To reward such an effort all runners got a candy bar, a cup of melted chocolate from an enormous chocolate fountain and a stack of Vanilla Wafers and Oreos for dipping and potato chips. Oh, there were some token bananas and orange slices, but the chocolate was the draw. I am truly motivated by many runners, regardless of speed or ability, but it gets to the point when you have to say, "this is kind of a joke." Oh, and I forgot to mention that they were serving chocolate cupcakes at the water stops at miles 1 and 2?!?
I ran a pretty good race, although the course was short. I ran a 17:54 which was good enough for 3rd place overall and I won a prize of , you guessed it, a giant chocolate bar.
Happy Running!
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