I Never Thought I'd See the Day...

I never thought I'd see the day:

• That I would enjoy a 5k run


• That I would run a 5k in a downpour


• That I would win a MEDAL in a 5k....

Yes, you read that right. I won a medal! But before you get too excited, I'd better explain.

When Brad and I awoke this morning, we stood looking out the window for a moment, then turned to look at each other and burst out laughing. It was POURING with rain! I do not mean a little drizzle, I mean the kind of rain that makes me not even want to go to the mailbox because I know I'll be soaked.

Not running did not enter our heads (we already paid the money!!!) so we headed down to pick up our friends, Chad and Rachel. Rachel has been my running partner for the last few months and we were both so excited (mildly giddy). This was her first 5k ever and my 3rd. I think we were probably annoying the boys with our excitement, but we didn't even care!

Once we arrived for the race we met up with several friends from church who were also running and Brad's brother, Josh. Brad's mom (bless her heart!) also came out to cheer us on and take pictures. Now that is dedication!!!

Below is Brad heading out. He did so great and I was so proud of him! He beat his time for this course by over 2 minutes! His brother, Josh, made it in just over 20 minutes (holy cow!) and Chad also did great.

It was a hilly course, which made it a bit harder. The rain made it quite interesting. Squishy shoes, difficulty seeing, and being soaked to the skin was a new running experience for us!

As Rachel and I approached the finish line we were just trying to stay ahead of two ladies who we had passed not too much earlier. We were so excited to not be the last runners! And we were only passed by one walker (that is embarassing to type but he was walking really fast - I promise!). We got up to the finish line and saw that we had finished with a time of 36:50 which is 2 1/2 minutes faster than we'd run it before! We were very happy with our time and I was so proud of Rachel for how well she did. Having a running buddy made this race much more enjoyable than the other two I've run.

Due to the rain, or perhaps because not many people had signed up for the race...every single one of us ended up finishing first or second in our age groups! It was so hilarious, we could not believe it when they called our names! Rachel and I were so excited (can you tell?)

Rachel and I with our gold medals!

I think Josh came in fourth overall which is awesome!

Overall it was a very memorable day and so much fun. I am looking forward to doing some more training and another race in October!