I Ran (kind of), Finished, and Had Fun!

It was a sun-splattered day on Capitol Square for the start of the 32nd Crazylegs Classic 8k/2 mile walk to benefit the UW Athletic Department.

What a day! The picture to the left is ahead of my 'wave.'  YY, and yes, as you might expect there was also a ZZ, so there were 52 waves of runners to be brought to the starting line.

The announced number of runners and walkers topped 17,000!

It took so long, the elite runners had been finished for 35 minutes before I even started.  As we came to the start, the Badger Marching Band played and athletes from Men's Wrestling, Women's Hockey, and Men's Basketball were out giving high fives to the runners as we advanced to the start line.  Very cool - I slapped hands with Traevon Jackson and Frank Kaminsky.

Then the count down from ten started and it was time to go.  Coming around the square, there was a slight hill toward Lake Mendota and a run down Langdon Street lined with 'Greek' houses.  Then the tough part was a little more than a mile in as we climbed Observatory Hill, complete with a switchback, and then, just for fun, another slightly smaller hill right behind it.

My goal going in was to keep moving without walking, and I managed to keep moving up the hill at a slow, but still running pace.  My only slow-down was to get some water just past mile 3.  As the first run of the season, I knew going in that it wouldn't be very fast (at all) but had a goal to finish in under an hour.

As we passed mile 4, and enjoyed the 'Rocky' theme to provide some inspiration heading up the last incline and down into the stadium, I think I may have picked up a little speed, but who could tell at that point?

Running onto the Camp Randall field and the 50 yard line finish, I saw the clock clicking past 1:55 since the overall race had started, knowing I didn't leave until more than an hour into the race that meant I achieved my modest goal.

Tired, sore, but feeling good - looking for the next challenge and a nice long bike ride.  I finished 449th in my age group, 5,038 in my gender, and 8,699 overall.  My time - 52:24.

Thanks for your encouragement and support and above all, thanks be to God for the healing and recovery from the sciatica pain of earlier this year.