Reindeer Romp 5k

Over a month ago I ran in the Ragsdale YMCA Reindeer Romp 5k. I had been looking forward to it mainly because I got to wear my red sparkly skirt! I had been wanting a sparkly running skirt and a Christmas themed race seemed like the perfect occasion. You can buy them online but I had this one made. Katie at RunsforCookies has a great tutorial on how to make them. I can't sew anything, not even a button! BTW, Katie's blog is awesome and she is one of my favorite running/weight loss bloggers.

Anyways, race day morning was chilly so I went with a long sleeve shirt.  Michael was still nursing an injury so he didn't run but Ryan did as well as my BIL and two nephews. Gaydon crew representing again!

I didn't have a goal finish time for this race but I hoped I would at least finish under 30 minutes since I had on the previous two 5k races in November. The race was a pretty good size with about 280 participants. A lot were kids from a local GOFAR (Go Out For A Run) program.

My official chip time was 29:57. Barely under 30 minutes but I did it! After the race everyone gathered inside on the YMCA's basketball courts for refreshments and the awards ceremony. My nephew who is 6 years old, won his age group! He got a first place award medal and this big Chick-fil-a gift basket! We were all so jealous of the basket. Next up my BIL placed 3rd in his age group and got his award medal.

We were getting ready to go but decided to wait since they were almost finished with awards. They gave out the kids first, then the men's and then the women's. I think they got off track somehow. Anyways, they got to my age group and OMG...my name was called for 3rd place!!! I could not believe it! I was so excited as I walked up to get my medal! Finally I got lucky and picked a race where my age group wasn't super popular! There were 14 women in my age group so I guess I didn't do too bad. My first winning medal felt great.

The next weekend several of us Breathless Babes participated in another Christmas themed race called "Running of the Balls" (yes that really was the name). It was an evening race that goes through a neighborhood which has tons of those lighted tree balls. It was really cool! The race was raising money and donated food for a local food bank. Over 1500 people participated by either walking or running. You could choose to be timed but most didn't (including us Babes) since it was really just about having fun and supporting the charity.

I dressed in my red sparkly skirt and was even more festive with my green Reindeer Romp 5k shirt and striped socks. After the race we went out for Mexican food and gave our BB leader Kathy a present from us Babes (a big basket full of goodies). Kathy surprised us with a personalized ornament that was so cool! I meant to take a picture of it before I packed away the Christmas decorations but I forgot. Each ornament was different since it was personalized and mine had sayings like Run for Chocolate! 13.1! Friends! Poblanos! Ha, she knows me well! I'm so glad I met this group of running girls!!!