We rang in 4th of July as a family today by getting up early (literally the crack of dawn) to participate in the 40th annual Butte to Butte 10K run. This is something we try to do as a family every year. This race is a ton of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who lives in Oregon or is in the area visiting. The atmosphere is great. Plus, it’s a good excuse to take a nap and eat whatever you want later on in the day. Many participants celebrate the occasion by running the race in 4th of July themed costumes. One lady even dresses up as Lady Liberty and runs the whole way with a burning torch! This year we decided to join the dress up fun and make our own custom t-shirts. Nathan and I are artistic geniuses, as you can see. I expect Project Runway: Couples Edition to contact us any day now.
This year’s race was extra meaningful to Nathan. One year ago, he was on the couch with four broken toes. The doctor said it would be several months before he ran (which it was), and even now he does not run pain-free. This time last year, when he was still stuck in a cast on the couch, he made a goal to run and finish the the race in 2013. He did even better, setting a major PR and easily breaking the 50 minute barrier.
We were also joined this year by Nathan’s friend Chris. Like me, Chris is a former high school cross country runner. He hadn’t run for several years, but Nathan talked him into doing the Butte to Butte a couple months ago. For the last two months, he has been training to get back in shape. Clearly, it worked, as he broke the 50 minute barrier as well!
Mom has also been doing a lot of training. For several months, she has been training for half-marathons, and has already completed two. In fact, she did one 5 days prior to this – so her legs were not nearly as fresh as she would like. Despite that, she PR’d by several minutes!
My goal this year was to be in good enough shape to finish the race in significantly less pain than last year. Not only did I succeed in that, but I also PR’d. Only by 19 seconds, but who’s counting? Next year, the goal is to get below the 55 minute barrier.
Dad outdid us all and took second place in the Old Guys division and won a medal! This is the second year in a row that he has placed in his age division (but only the first that he has actually received his prize). Hint, hint, race organizers. We couldn’t be prouder of him for kicking some Old Guy ass!
We were all very grateful that the weather cooperated and cooled down a little from the 90+ degree heat that we have been suffering with for the last week. It made the race MUCH more enjoyable. A cool thing that the race had this year were immediate race results available after you finished. They just typed your number into a computer, and it printed you a little slip that showed your time, pace, overall place, and age group place. It was the first time I have been at a race with something like this, and I think it’s awesome!
Happy 4th of July!
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