Race #49

Placed third in Idaho!! Without the help of my neices and nephew I never would have pulled off a 31:35 this late in the quest, and a third place in my division to boot!

This was a great way to approach the end of the quest.  I flew out to Salt Lake City to meet up with my oldest brother Eric and his family.  Eric's entire family - wife, kids, son and daughter in law and two grandsons piled in three vehicles and road tripped it up to Pocatello for the night. 

Race #44

Team Camille before the race

“Go north to Alaska, go north the rush is on!” As they say, everything is bigger in Alaska, including the races. Couldn’t find a 5k race on June 26th so ended up running a 6k and had a blast!

The race was sponsored by the Anchorage Bucs (http://www.anchoragebucs.com/) a minor league baseball team. And for an early rainy day, I give those young guys credit for being out there and supporting the runners. As you can see from the pictures, Team Camille got a great photo with a lot of the players before the race. They also hung out along the route and very good naturedly gave me high fives as I ran past. I know they thought this old lady was a bit crazy, but it made for a real fun time.

More fun was added by my cousins Karen D. and Mary Cheryl O. plus by first cousin once removed, Kayla K. (Karen’s daughter). They flew out with me as after the race we all drove down to Homer, Alaska to see Mary Cheryl’s daughter Franny O. As a testament to their enthusiasm, they suggested we actually wear the race shirts on Friday on the flight from Minneapolis to Anchorage. Of course that brought on the stares and questions.

The day was perfect for running, a bit cool and overcast. The course went from the ball park to the little league fields in a basic out and back. I thought it was going to be a trail run, but the “trail” ended up being a paved urban trailway that wound through the woods beside a stream. I thought it was a flat race but when I was just about at the turnaround it dawned on me that I was running against the stream, hence uphill. This made for a nice second half of the run – all downhill.

Not having trained for this run, I went out slow and continued to go slow. Didn’t even try to find some inner strength deep down inside to motivate me. I just kept running. I believe one of the first women to finish was a young girl, maybe in her early teens, with legs that started at her neck! She of course made me think of Dede. I can just imagine Dede ran her share of local road races in Anchorage and led the pack most of the time. Your spirit was with me Dede!

The race ended at home plate. As you can imagine they were encouraging everyone to slide into home. I went for it!! Found out later only about five other “kids” slide home. The local photographer got a great shot of me with my legs splayed open in a most ungraceful manner! But I think the boys of summer appreciated my effort!

I still have no word on my time as the clock wasn’t working when I crossed the finish line, and I forgot to bring my watch. The clock displayed 43+ minutes which is a horrible time if accurate, but who cares.

Thanks to the photography and video skills of my cousins, enjoy the pictures!"Rounding third and heading for home..."

Race #42

Save this space.

Race #41

(Writing this well after the fact on a flight to Alaska for race #44)
Race day dawned just as William and Kate were getting married. I wish I could draw some parallels between the wedding festivities in London and my hum drum run in 33:15, South Dakota, but I can’t. There were no commentators wondering what I’d be wearing, no crowd lining the route to get a glimpse of me in my running shirt and shorts, and no handsome prince at the finish line. The continuing fairy tale that is my life!

The race was by far the most solitary of any so far. Not because the field was small and I was running in my usual place in the back of the pack, but I didn’t strike up a conversation with anyone at the race or during my travels. I’d gotten into town late in the day so went from my hotel right to the restaurant across the parking lot to eat a solitary meal at Applebees. I turned in early so I could wake up by 4am to watch the wedding before heading out to the race.

It was an o’dark thirty start, cold but sunny. Most everyone opted for long sleeves and sweats but at the last minute I went for shorts and my T-shirt. The cold got me going but as usual, it didn’t take long for me to heat up. It was another wonderful flat course that made a big rectangle around the local college. A few little inclines but nothing that amounted to too much. I of course took it slow and finished with a time of XX.X which at least kept me out of last place. No t-shirt at this race, but did get a Black Hills Cedar which I am sorry to say I have not been able to keep alive.

Race #40 Louisiana

Save this space

Race #39

Nebraska - save this space

Race #38

California - save this space

Race #37

It has been so long since I ran this race that I almost drew a complete blank regarding where it was and what happened. The only thing I am almost assured is that the time was slow.

Gradually it is coming back to me. The race was in Albuquerque and the most lasting impression I have is of the hot air balloon rally that was going on the morning of the race. The skies were filled with hot air balloons of every imaginable design and color. Quite neat, actually.

The race was held at Balloon Fiesta Park where the hot air balloons had taken off earlier in the morning. A nice flat run for the most part except for a gradual up hill for maybe a quarter of a mile. Considering I spent very little time training this past winter the time wasn't too gross, 3X.XX.

Race #36

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! I had a great time even before I landed in Nevada. On the leg from Denver to Las Vegas I sat next to a 27 year old male dental student from Carolina headed to a bachelor party weekend with 13 other friends, and a 35 year old single mom from Denver headed to the International Adult Entertainment Convention – yes that would be the porn convention. I used my drink tickets to get a round for the three of us and get everyone talking. The bleached blonde single mom with two diamond studs on her face loosened up quickly. She was going to meet her friend from LA who was hosting a party for Hustler Magazine Friday night. We heard about her three previous conventions and two sheriffs deputy friends from Fargo, ND who got her into clubs with just the flash of a badge. She didn’t leave without giving Dr. Carolina her number so she could let him know where all the parties were going to be.

Once Dr. Carolina found out I lived in Durham he immediately asked if I was a Duke fan. Hello?!? Then he went into the standard Carolina whining about Duke winning the 2010 National Championship by beating a third rate team (Butler), they got a lucky draw, yadda yadda yadda. I’ve heard this all before from every Carolina fan who can’t stomach the thought of someone other than their pretty boys winning the big dance.

ANOTHER BLOG POST I DIDN'T FINISH! RACE WAS A LOT OF FUN. VERY SMALL FIELD BUT I GOT SECOND IN MY DIVISION. BEAT OUT BY THIS TINY ASIAN WOMAN WHO WAS NOTHING BUT COCKY WHEN I TALKED TO HER AFTER THE RACE. 33.09 WAS MY TIME AND I COULDN'T COMPLAIN AS I DID ALMOST NO RUNNING OVER THE HOLIDAYS JUST ATE, DRANK AND HUNG OUT WITH LOTS OF GREAT FRIENDS!

Race #35

January 1, 2011 flew up in the morning, ran and flew back in the afternoon. Gross, discouraging, cold, hilly, unprepared ready to give up this whole damn quest - who needs it?