Beat Beethoven 2013

Last weekend was Pleasant Grove's annual Beat Beethoven race.  This race usually takes place in September (which change was a bummer to Julie, as she was looking forward to being able to get back into running after The Speck's imminent arrival and being able to have a fun traditional 5K to motivate her to get back in the swing of things), but I guess there's this new series of Pleasant Grove races, and this one is now part of that, so that also means there were several changes this year.  The race itself (and the price) was more or less the same, but a lot of the other happenings were different.  For one thing, for whatever reason the turnout seemed to be much smaller than previous years, which might have had something to do with it being pretty cold and rainy that morning, but which I suspect had more to do with the change of season (it's just a nice race to look forward to in the fall).  The prizes and treats were cut way back (there actually hardly were any prizes at all, they did read off the names of the division winners, but not for really any reason except for people to hear their names), and the chip timing system wasn't as effective (the results you could print out at the [one] kiosk were 1:30 under time, which is always nice to see, but not really effective).  Also, apparently they didn't give prizes because you get points for each race in the series that you do, and then you get prizes after, but also apparently, that only counts if you don't sign up with the group rate.  ForGET it!!!  BUT, they did change the course just a little so it was much closer to a true 5K, and it was still a fun time which we kind of decided to do at the last minute (thanks for getting the group together, Melody!).

As far as I can tell, I placed 11th overall, 10th in men, and either 1st or 3rd in my division (they just read off a bunch of names for each age group and called my name last, I'm not sure if they were in 3-2-1 order or 1-2-3 order... I'm thinking 3-2-1, and I don't think there were that many guys my age ahead of me) at 21:20, 6:53/mile (results printout said 19:58, which is AWEsome, but I don't think accurate).  This is a little better than last year, and I don't really mind running in the rain, but if I had realized it was that cold I might have worn something a little more appropriate for inclement weather.  I'm more used to that course by now, which is good, but it was kind of a hard run, though it seemed to go by pretty quickly.

It wasn't even until much later in the afternoon that I realized that we didn't take a single picture.  Well, I can always just go back and find another race picture that includes Mom, Dad, me, Amber and Melody, and that will about cover it.  It was also fun to see Mandy, my friend of many many years since ye olde kindergarten days, after finishing her very first 5K!  May it lead to many more (shinsplints pending).

Also, I finally managed to get my hands on the shirts from last year's race, which for some reason took a very long time to find us, ha.

And that's about it!  Don't worry, Wife!  We'll find another race in the fall for you to train for!  But I don't know if it will be one of those Pleasant Grove ones.