Hendricks County 4-H Fair 5K – Race Recap / Be Your Own Super Hero

July 12, 2014

I’ve stated before that I’m not one to pay to run a 5K…unless it is a cause that I am passionate about.  After all, 3.1 miles is a short (and usually its at least 4 miles) training run for me so why pay money to do one?  But some people from our running group were posting on Facebook about this and THREE things caught my eye:

1. I saw that it was “Super Hero” themed.  Fun!  Maybe I could throw together a costume.
2. It would benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and I have family and friends with diabetes so it was a cause that I support.
3. It was being held 15 minutes from my house.

Now I initially saw all of this 3 days before the event but didn’t sign up so the price increased.  I finally decided to “pull the trigger” the day before (only $5 more) but couldn’t register online anymore so I’d have to do it the morning of. 

FRIDAY, JULY 11th:  Now the hunt was on to create a costume!  I went to the Party City store near my house but they didn’t have many costumes in stock and most of them were kids sizes.  I can wear a kids size from time to time but all of these were smalls and I would have needed a Large or XL.  I saw this in the store and it became my inspiration.

But after driving to several more stores, I wasn’t having much luck.  I was very sad to see that my “go to” store in Greenwood that always carried adult costumes was no longer there.    So I came home to regroup, see what I had in my closet and put my thinking cap back on.  I went to trusty ol’ Walmart and actually found a few different options that I thought would work with my navy star skirt and finally decided on the Superman t-shirt (a technical shirt nonetheless!) in the boys department.  It didn’t really match my skirt but it was getting late and I needed to go back to Party Supply and buy a Superman cape.  While there I also found some red tights so I got those as well.  I hurried home and laid all this out on the bed to see what it would look like.  Not bad.  Put it on and texted a picture to my friend (NCB) from the running group.  She approved.  I wasn’t really sure how I was going to wear the cap because it was suppose to fit around your neck and I was pretty sure that would drive me crazy…even if it was only 3.1 miles.  I was already worried that the tights – in the summer – would cause me to combust but the plan was to run this for fun not for speed.  Which really is the only way I run anyway.

When I cut the tag from the shirt it was a perfect Superman logo so I was inspired to duct tape it to a red visor.  My preference is to always run wearing a hat.  It actually fit really well.  I’d never run in this hat but surely it would be okay, right?

SATURDAY,JULY 12th:  Since I still needed to register, I wanted to get to the Fairgrounds early so I left my house around 7:15AM.  Although the forecast was not AS HOT as it could have been, the fact that I was wearing tights in the summer was weighing heavily on my mind.

There weren’t many people there yet so I was able to park super close.  Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any money or a check and they weren't set up to take credit card payments but they let me register anyway and told me I could just mail the check to them.  YAY - small towns! 

Photo from the Hendricks County Flyer

My friend arrived and then another guy from the running club got there.  He was wearing a Superman shirt as well so of course a picture was taken!

I’m pretty sure my eyes are under there somewhere!

Close to 8:00AM, everyone gathered at the start line – which was just a tape line they put down in the parking lot, received instructions about the course and then they played the National Anthem.  They counted down from 10 and we were off.

Photo from the Hendricks County Flyer

Although NCB and I agreed that this was for fun and not speed, we started off faster than I normally would have.  DS – the guy from our group was racing so we never saw him again until the finish.  There was a water station at the 1 mile marker so we walked through that and grabbed a cup, then we were routed through a neighborhood for 1 mile and then back into the Fairgrounds.  The water stop at mile 1 was also at the 2 mile marker and I told NCB that I was going to walk through it again.  So she did as well.  When we reached 2.5 miles – according to my watch -  I was really struggling.  I was very overheated and my stomach was starting to get “crampy and gurgley” and I really wanted to stop and walk but I didn’t say anything because I was afraid she would walk with me.  Even though we agreed in the beginning that she could take off at any time, I knew she wouldn’t and I didn’t want to ruin her race.

Thankfully I was able to suck it up and finish without walking other than at the water stops.  After resting only momentarily past the finish line I thought it might be best to find a bathroom.  Thankfully the exhibit hall was open so I got to use a “real” restroom and it was air conditioned.  This may have saved me from bursting into flames!  Eventually I made my way back outside.  We stuck around for the awards but they were only giving medals to the first place finishers and the age groups were in “tens” (31-40 / 41-50) rather than the usual fives (45-49) and none of us placed first in our group.  I was second though.

I’m glad I did this event and I’m glad that I ran with NCB.  She made me push myself and I actually got a PR at this distance.  AND I never did burst into flames. I doubt I’ll ever wear tights for a run in the summer ever again.  Lesson learned.

Today…I felt like my own Super Hero!