Run to the Lights 5k

Last year we ran the Run to the Lights 5k for the first time. It was such a fun race for a great cause and we were all really looking forward to it again this year. Read about last year's race here. The race is run at Silver Dollar City. It starts in the park and immediately heads out into the parking lots for the first 2 miles and then heads back inside the park for a weaving last mile. The first half mile is pretty much all down hill which makes for an extremely fast mile and then the rest of the race is mostly uphill as you work your way back into the park and finish up the steepest hill in the race.

The race starts at 10:15 and last year we didn't arrive early enough to do a whole lot before the race because we left after Ty got off work. This year Ty took a half day and we arrived in time to pick up our packets and head into the park right at 6 when packet pick-up started. It worked out great because we grabbed a little dinner and then had plenty of time for Carter to play and ride rides. He had a blast in the play area and then we rode the train. The train ride was the highlight of my night. Mom had Carter sit on the side so he could see out really well. Then she had me sit beside him. I was wearing Elise in the carrier and she kept craning her head around to stare at Carter while giving him a huge grin. Carter would laugh every time and then lean in to give her a kiss. Most of the train ride was spent with Carter belly laughing at Elise as she gave him her best open mouthed smile. Part of the ride includes stopping in front of a light display as the story of Jesus' birth is recounted. As different characters were mentioned they lit up. The boy sitting behind Carter kept saying, "Oh, wow!" as each piece lit up. Each time he did it Carter would turn to stare at him. He eventually stopped but each time something lit up Carter would turn to look at him to see if he was going to say it again. After the train we rode the carousel 3 times in row. Carter was riding on a bear with Oma beside him. When he would go up Oma would say, "You are taller than me!" Then as it went back down she'd say, "Now you're smaller!" He was belly laughing each time and would look at her waiting for her to say it as he went up. It was so sweet to watch. I rode on a little carriage bench with Elise and she enjoyed looking around. After the carousel we headed to ride some pretend hot air balloons that go in circles. On the way Carter found a water pump and played with it for quite a while and exclaimed, "I'm having so much fun!" Once at the hot air balloons Oma and Opa rode with Carter while Elise and I watched.

Enjoying the carousel.

Carter was getting really tired, walking slowly, and wanting carried so we decided it was time for him to head back to the hotel which was really a cabin. Right when I was getting ready to text Ty who was off riding rides with Jeremy and Thomas, he texted asking where we were and started heading our way. It was around 9:00 and both kids were quite tired. I had hoped Elise would get a little bit of sleep in the carrier but she was too interested in looking at all the Christmas lights and people. She was so tired she had her thumb in her mouth but wasn't even sucking it. We decided to walk back to the car thinking it would be faster than waiting to ride a shuttle, but got lost heading all the way to parking lot 5. By the time we made it to the car Elise had finally fallen asleep in the carrier. Unfortunately when I moved her over to the car seat she woke up and started crying. Ty headed back with the kids to put them to sleep while we all headed back to move our car closer and then go back in the park for the race. By the time we were in the car moving toward a closer parking lot it was 9:40 and I needed to use the restroom. When we parked I got out and jogged to the bathrooms for a warm up and then jogged back to everyone else so we could be together at the start. I got a little over a half mile warm up in and felt good.

Thomas stopped off at the bathrooms as we headed toward the start. I knew last year I had been 8 seconds away from placing top 3 in my age group and I was nearing 20 weeks pregnant. The course was pretty difficult for me carrying all that weight in front while going up and down hills, downhills were the worst! I hadn't been prepared for the difficulty of the course mentally, but this year I was fully prepared and remembered the course quite accurately. I stashed my sweats behind some decorations in a garden area and then at the start decided I didn't want my gloves so I stashed them in a decorative barrel. We were led toward the starting line by a man in a nutcracker costume and I noticed some obvious walkers in front of us so we moved a bit further up. We were decently close to the front when I heard the woman next to me talking about how she was hoping to run around 31 minutes. I'm always baffled why some people think it's necessary to be up front to start when they won't finish that far up. There's no way Ty would ever line up that close to the front and he runs over 5 minutes faster than her and her friend she was standing with!

As they started the race we had to walk a little bit to the starting line and then took off. The race starts out so fast as the entire first half mile is all down hill as you make your way into the parking lots. Then it flattens out and you run out and back multiple times in the parking lot before heading up the first large hill and running mostly uphill for the rest of the race. During the downhill in the beginning of the race I heard someone next to me say, "These downhills kill me because they make me stride out too much." I looked over and was a bit surprised to see it was Thomas. I was passing people like crazy in the first section, passing huge packs of runners. Once we made it into the bottom parking lot and started running out and back on the flat parking lot things were thinned out and I counted 4 females ahead of me. The first female I saw was wearing a yellow shirt and was in front of Jeremy. The next one was a short distance back from her wearing a purple shirt. Then not far ahead of me there were 2 girls running together. The girl in yellow appeared to be struggling and the girls right in front of me looked really strong. I \[ade it a point to focus on how I felt, not pace, as I knew with all the hills my pace would vary considerably. I knew the first mile would be fast and it was as my watch beeped telling me I ran a 6:25 first mile! 

Starting the second mile we headed up a long, steep hill that turned as you crested the top. Then you had another long but slight incline. It was during this section that I passed the girl in yellow. Then we turned and ran a flat straight away before turning and running a slight incline all the way to the park entrance. I caught up to the 2 girls ahead of me and ran next to them. I went through mile 2 in 7:09. As we entered Silver Dollar City the girls picked up the pace and pulled away from me a little bit. I enjoyed looking at the lights and it was beautiful! I focused on the girls ahead of me and saw them catch up to the girl in purple who tried to go wth them but began to fade. I was feeling really strong and continued to close the gap on them as we weaved our way around rides and concession stands. The workers directing us got really excited as they saw us coming, telling us we were the first females. With about a quarter mile to go I knew we were getting close to the finishing hill which, although brutal, I had dominated last year out kicking multiple runners including 2 women in my age group. I kept telling myself I was strong and I could catch those girls going up the hill. I passed the girl in purple before we hit the hill. One of the girls who had been running together had broken away and was ahead by a short distance. I passed the first one on the hill and was catching up to the second one as we reached the top. We turned a corner toward the finish and I sprinted around her as people were yelling that we were the first women and I heard a worker yell, "Here come the first girls!" I was shocked as I crossed the finish line and saw the clock showing 20 in the minute place! I had run the last mile in 7:03. I couldn't believe I had broken 21 minutes on such a challenging course! It wasn't until I was wandering off that I remembered to stop my watch and saw the course was either short or my Garmin had trouble with distance due to all the hills. My official finishing time was 20:36 which would put me at 6:52 pace for 3 miles. I was impressed that I had run the same pace on this difficult course as I had for a flat course just a few weeks before.

I forgot to stop my watch as I crossed the finish line.

I grabbed a water and walked down to watch dad and Thomas finish. I realized I must've missed them go by so I headed back up to the finish line in time to hear them announce my dad was crossing. I found him and congratulated him, found Jeremy and Thomas, and then headed out on a cool down to find my mom and walk back with her. Everyone was running and walking toward Silver Dollar City as I was running away. One guy saw me and informed me I was going the wrong way. I thanked him and continued on. At which point he panicked checking with the workers directing traffic to make sure he was going the right way. I cracked up that he was concerned he and the thousands of other people were going the wrong way just because he saw me going the opposite way! I found mom with a probably a mile and a half to go and walked back with her. Dad was inside the park and walked the rest of the way with us. I had been worried shorts would be too cold for the race as the temperature was just over 40 degrees but here I was walking over a mile in just shorts and didn't get cold until the very end, mostly because I was so wet and sweaty.

Ready to cross the finish line.

After watching mom finish I went around collecting my stashed clothing. I put my sweats on first and then picked up my gloves. Then it was time for deliciousness as I ate a Christmas tree cookie and drank hot chocolate as we waited for awards. From what everyone had said as I was running, I thought I had been top overall female but it turned out there was a woman way up front finishing in 18:57. I think she must've been running in a pack or something so none of them saw her. Jeremy and Thomas had been standing by the awards area as they did drawings for prizes and said it would be interesting as the announcers were a bumbling mess. They were correct because I was announced as Lisa instead of Liz and they said Jerry and then Jiminy for Jeremy's name. It was quite comical. Before getting married I was accustomed to people mispronouncing my last name, but I've never had anyone mess up my first name! I placed 1st in my age group, was 2nd overall female, and 21st overall out of 1,246 total runners! Jeremy also won his age group finishing in 19:46 and placing 13th overall. Thomas came in next finishing in 22:38 which put him 7th in his age group and 55th overall. Dad just missed a medal in his age group, taking 4th place in 23:37 which put him 73rd overall. Mom walked the race in 54:22 which put her 66th out of 97 in her age group. On our way out I grabbed a cookie for Ty and a hot chocolate to drink in the car.

Jeremy with his first place medal.

Enjoying some hot chocolate while receiving my medal.

When we arrived back at the cabin we found Ty asleep with Elise in his chest and Carter in the bed beside him. I stood in the door soaking up the sweetness before shutting it so they wouldn't get woken up. We had tried to be quiet coming in but dad dropped his wallet in the kitchen, knocked something off the counter, laughed really loud, and then turned on the bathroom light which shone into the room where the kids were sleeping. That last one was before we had figured out where they were, but I told him he had 4 strikes regardless. I quickly showered and came out to find Ty up and talking with everyone. It sounded like everything had gone decently well except that he ripped trim off the car in his haste to get bags out of the trunk because Elise was crying. Then as he got Elise set up with a bottle, which she fed herself, he turned on tv for Carter and the only cartoon he could find was The Simpsons so Carter has now seen a wildly inappropriate cartoon, but it could be worse and I'm sure he was too young and too tired to understand the inappropriate jokes. Other than that it sounded like things went well. I was extremely grateful that he was willing to do that on his own as this is one of most fun races we do and I was also extremely relieved that it went as well as it had! Lucky for me, Ty has no interest in running such a hilly race so it looks like I'll get to run again next year! He has already said it will be easier for him next year as Elise will no longer be a baby.