Make that 5 MILES, not 5K!!!

Duh.  I spent a month and half after signing up for this race thinking it was a 5K.  I even trained on the course, wondering why the hell it was taking me so long to run 3-ish miles!  Imagine me on race day, watching the MILE flags marking the MILES pass by one after the other..."Oh, SHIT!  It's 5 MILES!"
The Alaska Run for Women, to raise money for breast cancer research, is a big wonderful event here.  I HATE that this race has to exist... but it does, and with promoting breast education and empowering all involved, it's a great thing.  I signed up with The Brewbies, our team representing the Great Northern Brewers Club that Miles and I belong to.  A couple of us ran in the 5 mile timed race, some in the untimed, and the rest walked in the Party Wave.

Of the 3 races I've run this summer, this was the more grueling.  Thinking I just had to blast out 3 miles, I ran it hard and fast.  It was a bit of a shock when I realized it wasn't 5K, and I did slow down a little at the end, but I'm proud of my effort and time...41:36!  I ran in honor of Megan and Tina.  I held them in my heart as I ran and while I have NO idea what these women have gone through/are going through, thoughts of their strength gave me wind in my wings, power in my legs.  You are WonderWomen, ladies!  I came in strong at the finish and passed many splats of puke as I slowed to a walk to find Willa, Miles, and water.  Stopping made me feel woozy, so I kept meandering and waiting for my other running teammate to finish so I could greet her.  After she finished we had a bowl of fruit, hit the potty, and found other Brewbies to cheer on.  I missed the last of our bunch because they decided to make a pit stop in the park to drink homebrew with some of our GNBC "supporters" and I had a regatta practice to get to (that'll be another post).
All in all a strong race day for me...and a morning of joy, empowerment, grief, education, teamwork, strength, camaraderie, and HOPE.

Pre-race with my biggest fan

Entertainment around every bend!  This bluegrass band gave me a happy blast of energy!

The steady deep beat that the Tomodachi drummers where laying down as I came into Westchester Lagoon had the hair on my arms standing on end!  What an unexpected and COOL surprise!

About to cross the finish line

An example of the fun and outrageous costumes

Willa loved getting to wear a big flowery bra for this silly photo op!  Guess who's obsessed with boobies now?!