Manhattan's St. Patty's Day Run - The Most Unorganized Racing Event of the Year

Last Saturday, the hubby and I made the trek down I-70 to good ol' Manhappenin, KS. Aggieville was having Fake Patty's Day Part Deux, so we decided we wanted to partake in the festivities. Part of this included the St. Patty's Day 2 Mile Fun Run. My sister, Nicole, and her friend Lexy decided to join us. Nicole and Lexy ran track and cross country together all throughout college and are actual "runners". James and I each used to run back in high school, but haven't really done much since. So our expectations for the race were slightly different than Nicole's and Lexy's.

Overall, the actual race went fine. I was a little surprised by how much 2 miles kicked my butt. But at the end of the race, I was able to kick it into high gear and pass a bunch of people at the finish line.

Here are my complaints about the race:

• My sister was unable to pre-register, due to a problem with her debit card. So when she went to register Saturday morning, they had run out of t-shirts. So, she didn't get a shirt. Let's be honest, most people who run road races, do it for the shirt. So not getting one sucks.
• In addition to running out of shirts, they also ran out of shoe tags (the chips they use to record your time). So my sister (and MANY other same-day registerers) did not get one of those either. We figured that wouldn't be the sole way they had of keeping track of times and places...so it must not have been a big deal. We were wrong.
• After the race, we went and had some beers at Pat's with my parents. They ordered food, which looked delicious. But we all opted out, because we were going to get "Free BBQ" at the awards ceremony. I thought I loved free BBQ, until we got there and found out that it was Burger King hamburgers with Kroeger chips. I'm not sure what makes Burger King "BBQ". There wasn't even BBQ sauce. Lame.
• At the awards ceremony, they were supposed to announce the top 10 finishers in each age bracket. We all figured Nicole was going to win her age bracket (30-34) because she was one of the top 10 overall female finishers. When it came to announcing the places, she (according to them) didn't place at all. However, the winning time for the 30-34 age bracket was 16 minutes and some odd seconds. Nicole's time was 15:16. So, she SHOULD have won it...but they screwed up and she walked away with no recognition and no medal.
• When the announced the top 10 finishers for my age bracket (25-29) I was not mentioned. I figured it was because I sucked and wasn't one of the top 10 finishers. Turns out I got 9th...they just messed up, again.

James called me this morning to tell me the times and places from the race were posted on their website. Despite the race coordinator's screwing up 100 times on race day...here are the actual results.

Nicole Taylor - 39th place overall (that includes men and women), 9th in the overall women's category, 1st in the 30-34 year old women's category, with a time of 15:16.

Lexy Schwartz - 57th place overall, 13th in the overall women's category, 2nd in the 25-29 year old women's category, with a time of 15:46.

Becky Asher - 115th place overall, 48th in the overall women's category, 9th in the 25-29 year old women's category, with a time of 17:25.

James Asher - 142nd place overall, 75th in the overall men's category, 7th in the 25-29 year old men's category, with a time of 18:14.

So, as you can see...all four of us placed in our age brackets, yet only one of us got her medal (we accepted Lexy's on her behalf, because she left early). I want my medal, Manhattan!

Running

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I used to be a runner. My (4 years) older sister Nicole ran track and cross country in high school. When I was in middle school I wanted to be a distance runner just like her. After two years of running the mile in middle school track meets...I was undefeated. I would also run the 1/2 mile and 2 mile run. I was never beat in the 2 mile and was only beat once in the 1/2 mile. I'm not trying to make this a bragging session, but let's just say I was good and I LOVED it.

In high school, I did both cross country and track. In cross country, I was decent, but I was no longer the best person on my team and it took a while for me to be okay with that. However, I still loved it. The cross country girls had a comradery that, to this day, I will never forget. Despite being from completely different cliques in the school (kinda like in Glee), we were all extremely close and the State Cross Country meet my freshman year still ranks as one of the most memorable days of my life.

When I started track, it was not the same. Being a freshman, I didn't really get any say in the events I did. Coach would always put me in the 4 X 800 relay (1/2 mile each) and the 3200 meter (2 mile), when my best event was the mile. I never got the chance to prove myself because he'd never let me run "my race". Our freshman year our relay team made it to state and despite me running the best 800 time in my life, we missed getting a medal by less than a second. Bummer. My sophomore year of track, I ended up injuring my back and quit the team. It's one of the only things I've ever quit and I'm disappointed that I did it.

I bring all this up because I USED TO be a runner. When I went off to college, I never competed again. I guess I was just done with it. Last summer I ran the Hospital Hill 5K with my friends Diane and Jenna. I trained for about a month beforehand, but nothing too extensive. It ended up being a fun race and after running it, I decided I would have to do more. So just this past week I started running again and I've already decided on two races I'm going to participate in in the next couple months:

My sister and I decided today that we're going to run the St. Patty's Day 2 Mile Fun Run in Manhattan on March 13th. I've always enjoyed Manhattan's St. Patty's Day festivities but I've never actually participated in the road race. It should be fun. I also got an email this past week for a 5K race in April that will benefit the son of woman who works in our district. She's actually the person who hired me 3 years ago. Her son has been fighting cancer for a couple years now and is not doing well. All the proceeds will go to pay for his medical bills. I'm looking forward to the race and I'm glad that I'm able to contribute to such a good cause.

So this is it...I'm getting back out there in the running world. Wish me luck!