Twilight Thriller 5k

Saturday was such an exciting day.  My mom and I went to a baby shower for one of my best friends in the morning, we found out we're having a GIRL in the afternoon, and then we ran our annual Halloween race in the evening.  We've run the race the past 4 years.  I missed out last year because one of my best friends got married in San Diego that weekend, but I've run every other year.  The first year we ran the race Ty dressed as Batman, I was Robin, and Thomas was The Joker.  At the race we realized there were costume awards and Ty decided he wanted to win the next year and he did exactly that, dressing as a gnome with a 2 foot tall hat.  The next year he decided to run with Carter in the stroller and turn the stroller into a plane with them both dressed as pilots.  We all knew there was no way he wouldn't win again and he did.  This year he went with a train for the stroller and engineers for both his and Carter's costumes.  His train costume was complete with a train whistle to blow.  There was no way anyone was going to beat him.  When it came time for the costume contest they called a guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a mustache as the male winner and I was mad.  I knew how much time and effort Ty put into his costume and everyone could see his costume was far superior.  There was no way he shouldn't have won.  I was very vocal about my disappointment and planned to complain about the injustice to the race director after all awards were passed out.  Then they announced the group costume winners and it was Ty and Carter.  Last year he won as the male costume and this year he won as a group instead.  That made more sense.  Everyone in the crowd erupted in cheers.  It was almost as though they all felt Ty had gotten gyped as well and were relieved that was not the case.

A group shot before the race in 2011.

Our group costume in 2011.

A group shot in 2012.  My best friend, Ang, also did the race.

Ty's winning gnome costume.

Group shot from last year.  I was in San Diego for one of my best friends' weddings.

Ty and Carter with the winning plane/fighter pilot costume.

Group shot from this year.  It was so awesome to have everyone there!  Each other year we were missing at least someone.

Ty and Carter in the winning train/engineers costume.

Going into the race I'd had a rough week of training.  I had a migraine that lasted for 2 days so I didn't run either of those days.  My first day back was Friday and I struggled at 11 minute pace and stopped to throw up during the run.  Things weren't looking promising for Saturday's race.  Friday evening we stayed up until 1 am and woke up with Carter at 7 am.  Then I missed my nap because Carter woke up right as I laid down.  So by the time we headed out for the race I was exhausted.  I had hoped to take off at around 7:30 pace and try to run a similar time to the 23:11 I ran at the Zoo Run when I was 13 weeks pregnant.  But by the time race day came around I was just hoping to be able to run without being completely miserable.  I took off at a decent pace and ran the first mile in 7:41.  I slowed down during the second mile and kept my pace consistent going into the last mile.  I finished in 24:03 an average of 7:45 pace, about 1 minute slower than my Zoo Run time.  That put me 5th overall female, 2nd in my age group, and 16th out of 151 overall.  The race went better than I expected.  We have another race coming up this weekend.  I have a feeling I'll be able to run a little bit better with a more restful day and my head holding out throughout the week for me.

Crossing the finish line.

Jeremy ran the race dressed as Heisenberg wearing a hat and sunglasses.  He kept both the hat and sunglasses on for the entire race, even when it got dark.  Thomas asked him how he could see once the sun went down and he said he couldn't really.  When I saw him at the turn-around he was 5th overall and ended up winning the race in 18:57!  Dad ran a post-surgery PR in 22:56, winning his age group by 5 minutes and placing 9th overall.  Thomas was 26th overall with a time of 25:21 and placed 3rd in his age group.  Ty ran an impressive 32:53 while pushing the stroller and wearing a long-sleeved shirt and overalls!  He started at the very back of the race to stay out of everyone's way since he had the stroller and passed 75 runners during the race!  He was 4th in his age group and would have placed had it not been for Thomas!  Mom started at the very back with Ty and planned to run/walk but got excited and ran the entire race, finishing in 34:26 and passing 65 competitors during the race, finishing 7th in her age group.

Jeremy finishing with sunglasses on and all!

Ty and Carter accepting their group costume award.