Drumstick Dash Photos

Ok, I promised photos before so here are some to sum up the day!

Believe it or not, being the dedicated (obsessed?) photographer that I am, I decided to borrow my mom's smaller camera and take it with me...not only before the race, but during. I wore a runner's pack (yup, like a fanny pack but designed to be worn while running) to carry it - and actually took photos while I ran. (See proof below.)

I'm sure this knocks me out of the "professional runners" association and probably looked pretty silly, but I have no regrets. I'm glad I got the photos I did and that I didn't have to leave my camera anywhere during the run. It was not only for me, but an essential part of capturing my sister & brother's first official event.

Here we are walking from the car after finally getting our bib numbers on and deciding we'd leave the warm car to brave the cold temps. We had just joked about how others were wearing shorts & must be quite "professional"...when we walked past that group of people in the back who commented to one another ("Look - there are some runners!") -- note the humored look on the faces of my fellow event participants.

It just goes to show you - everyone has an impression of someone else. You are who you think you are.

The back of my sister's shirt. Very inspirational.

Which leads me to share a quick funny story: Around mile 3, I noticed a runner in front of me whose t-shirt back said, "Now is not the time to stop." It started swirling in my thoughts and motivated me...I just kept following that shirt and knew I could keep right on going. Unfortunately, a few yards later - he stopped.

I ran past him and had to giggle a little.

A photo of one row of volunteers and a section of food - those are all bananas. Bless those people for being out so early...and just start to imagine how many people (volunteers & runners/walkers) there were by knowing that this was just one row - amidst other rows and actual tents - of food & drink.

A photo of fellow runners. The turkey was a professional runner who had a bit of a head start - there was a prize for the first runner to catch him. I opted out of that competition.

A photo taken in the middle of the area to line-up. Each participant was supposed to line up according to their per-mile time. (Note the sign in the middle for the "7 minute mile") If you can tell, you can barely see two more signs - for the 8 & 9 minute mile-ers...you can't even see back to the 10, 11, 12, & 13 minute mile section. Yeah, there were a lot of people.

Chris (hubby), Kristen (younger sis), Ryan (younger bro), and moi right before the race was to begin. By this point my adrenaline was down, I was cold and just wanted to start.

Told you I took photos during the race! This is within the first mile as I'm running (really - I was on a fast pace here). Note not only all the people in front of me, but all those who are walking.

This was a huge frustration -- people who started walking from the beginning (not just those who got tired) lined up well in front of us, so we were dodging people for at least the first half of the race.

Mile 3 marker up ahead. Note the people still walking...I may have a slow pace, but I know I was going faster than they were (i.e. they lined up ahead of me).

Another funny story - remember that I was carrying this camera with me in the runners pack. I've never run with it before and found that if it isn't belted tight enough, it starts to slip down. Part of the beginning of the race I was struggling to tighten it....

When it got tight enough, it still wanted to slip - and wanted to take my pants with it. Suddenly that explains why I had so many people behind me & was the leader of a pack...I thought I was just fast! :) (I got it adjusted ok but have no plans to take it with me again.)

Coming into the finish! (The time on the clock is about 7 or so minutes off my actual time, which I forget right now. The clock started when the first runners crossed the start line - it took us about 7 minutes to actually reach the start line.)

Chris, Kristen, Ryan, and Mike after the race. Mike is my brothers friend and a chiropractor...he actually worked with Kristen & Ryan a bit before the race. Kristen has back problems & wasn't feeling pain when done...even though she doesn't run much! Ok, gotta do it: Kearns Chiropractic in Carmel, IN. Highly recommended.

Family photo: Kristen, moi, and Ryan after the race. I still can't believe we did it.

So there you have it! As I wrote before, we all finished strong and feel that much better for it.

We're planning to do it again next year and hope the weather holds out.

For now, I'm back to the pool tomorrow. (Weight training & eliptical this morning...I pulled something around my calf muscles during the run and am holding off before getting back on the road again.)

Still feeling strong, thinking strong (most of the time), and living strong.