We Won!

The big day came much too soon. About three hours too soon. But the 40 degree weather made it easy to forget about the five hours of sleep. The Indianapolis Mini-Marathon is run by 4,000 5k and 35,000 13.1 mile participants. This TV spot from last year has some cool little clips. This started out as a great idea for some motivation to exercise last fall but didn't seem so great after a spring of zero training. The most I had accomplished was a 7-mile jog last week. Others had similar let-downs in dedication.

I luuuuuv new places though, so seeing downtown Indy and 35,000 people lined up behind the starting line was pretty neat.
Aaaaand the same scene, behind the starting line 30 minutes after the gun - not so neat.

These nice gals gave up their positions a couple of groups ahead of me to help me keep pace with a similar pace I expected.

We had our own medical staff!! Thanks for coming all that way to cheer us on Tara and Amanda!

Don't know what it is with me and pictures of these things.

Lots to see along the way. A few miles were along the river.

That's right, 37 minutes for the first mile. It's all in the pacing :-)

The race takes you along the 2.5 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The entrance was pretty sweet.

The speedway by itself was pretty sweet. Totally felt like Speed racer. My pace runners parted ways from me at this point, around 7 miles.

Mile 10 was when I knew I would make it all the way, but 12 was the relief point where I knew I could run as fast as I could and not pass out. Legs weren't doin' so hot, but who needs those after the race?



Pete, Joanne and Ben had some pretty swift times below two hours. The other ladies and I were pretty happy with our sub-three-hour times. For stalkers like me, check out the official time lookup. With the race completed, it was time to thaw out and go home.

The medical staff finally got to "treat" someone. Couldn't find anyone willing to do this for me though.

We are very grateful for Peter's organizing of the whole thing, giving us an opportunity to experience something new, fun and challenging. And to his family for putting up with us for a short night.