My niece is training to walk her first half marathon and signed up to do the Bunny Rock 5K in Indianapolis. She had tagged me in a Facebook post about it so after confirming that she wanted me to walk it with her, I signed up as well. I had received an email for $5 off and it was still before the rate went up so registration was just over $30 with taxes & fees. Not too bad in my opinion.
This seemed like one of those races that I could dress “themed” especially since I would be walking it instead of running. However, I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to find something Easter-y and/or Bunny themed. Eventually, I found a T-shirt and “skorts” in the Girls Department at Target that I thought would work. The T-shirt was a little tight but I figured with a sports bra it would fit better.
Hannah drove over Friday night and stayed with us so that she could get some extra sleep. She lives a little over an hour west of us.
Morning came quickly and we left a little earlier that we ended up needing to but you had to pick up your packet THAT morning and we weren’t sure what the parking situation would be like. Better safe than sorry. And I didn’t want her to feel rushed since this was her first official event. We got our packets and I put them in the drawstring backpack I brought, put on our bunny ears, took a few pictures and then lined up near the back of the pack.
It was a crowded start because the course is narrow there but she did a good job of speeding up and passing some people. The original plan that we discussed was that the first mile we would do at her pace, the second mile I would pace her to go a little faster and then we would back it off the last mile. I stressed that along with completing the even, I wanted this to be enjoyable for her. I ran ahead of her at one point so that I could get an action shot. We talked about various things along the way and then asked her if she wanted to kick it in once we were .1 away from the finish line. I thought she would just start walking faster but she took off running. YEA! I wasn’t even thinking about it but glad she crossed the finish line before me.
We both had our pictures taken with the Easter Bunny, got a water, banana and granola bar but sadly they were out of Peeps. 
There was a petting zoo for the smaller kids that would be doing the Easter egg hunt later so we took some time to look at all the animals. She said that she enjoyed it. I hope she really did. I wish I could be there for her when she does her first half but I am doing one that same day in a different city.
We stopped at Denny’s for brunch on the way back but then she had some errands to run before heading home so she packed up her stuff and left not long afterward.
I’m glad that I was able to do this with her. I hope she enjoys her half marathon or at least continues with 5Ks or maybe even 10Ks.
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