A New PR & a TV Interview at the Ward Parkway Thanksgiving Day 5k!

OK, before you get too excited for me it was a 5 second PR, but hey it was a PR right??

The last few years Jim and I have actually decided to eat Thanksgiving dinner out.  I know, for many that's crazy...no homemade stuffing, or pumpkin pie etc....but it is super relaxing.  I have nothing to make, no grocery shopping to do.  We just show up and eat; which means it totally frees of Thanksgiving morning.  So, since we had time, we decided to do a local Thanksgiving Day 5k.  We've done one before but it was no fun because it was just completely overcrowded and you really couldn't run it at all.  After that experience we pretty much avoided the Turkey Day race.  However, last year, a new race began in KC -The Ward Parkway Thanksgiving Day 5K.  This run is only in it's second year, but it still draws a crowd - almost 2000 runners, but doesn't seem overly congested.  I had read online that it was supposed to be a great race.  Your entry fee got you either a nice long sleeve technical tee or a pumpkin pie.  We both chose the shirt....no need for a whole pie between the two of us.

There were tons of people in costume at the race.

Jim and I got up and were both feeling a little grumpy for some reason.  No way to start Thanksgiving.  We did our pre-race dance to put us in a better mood.  Which of course worked and we headed out the door for our race.  As we were leaving I said "man I don't feel very festive, I really wish I had gotten a turkey hat or something"....oh well.

Pre-race......already thinking about lunch!

The race didn't start til 9am, but we got there at 8am hoping to exchange our shirts, as they apparently ran very, very small.  My medium and Jim's large were both very snug....so we stood in line and exchanged, with at least 15 other people all saying the same thing I need a bigger size.  I never wear a Large, but I was glad to exchange it because I really did like the shirt.

Although the weather was an unseasonably warm for the end of November, about 60 degrees, there was about a 15 to 20 mph wind, so it was still cool when just standing around.  Jim wanted to warm up so I opted to hang in the car awhile longer.  In just a few minutes Jim was at the car to tell me "Hey Karli Ritter is here.  I just talked to her, she's really nice".  Karli Ritter is a local TV meteorologist for Fox 4 Kansas City.  We both watch Fox 4 religiously in the morning.  Karli is the morning weather person.  We love her, and the whole morning crew!  Jim left and I made my way down to the start area, where sure enough there she was.  I went over and talked to her and told her how much Jim and I loved the show.  She was super, super nice.  Karli is also a runner, so she was doing live coverage of the race and running it as well.  I wished her good luck and got ready to start the race.  It was so cool to meet her.

Jim & I with Karli  Ritter after the race

The course is just a simple loop and the first mile is a slight downhill which is awesome.  The problem with downhills is you know they will of course, go back uphill.  My first mile was FAST...well fast for me.  I did a 9:22 pace.  I knew the uphill wouldn't be that fast, but I thought if I could just have a decent 2nd mile, I'd kick it in during mile 3 and have a really strong race.  I was really wrong about this theory.  For some reason I had it in my head that mile 1 was downhill, 2 would be uphill, and then 3 would be flat and finish on a downhill.  No, this was not the case.  It was pretty much uphill from 2-3 and with the howling winds it didn't make things any easier.  There was no push in me during that third mile, and it was my slowest of the 3.  Finally the last little bit was downhill and I really pushed here knowing that I was close to a PR.  I crossed the finish line in 31:35 a 10:10 pace and a 5 second PR.  I was hoping for better, but was still happy.

Approaching the finish line for a new 5K PR

I found Jim.  He finished 3rd in his AG.  Dang, he always finishes in the top 3.  He's an amazing runner.  He said "let's go get a pic with Karli she's still here".  We walked over to her, and it looked like she was setting up for a report.  We asked if we could get a quick picture and she said "Yes, I'll trade you a picture for an interview".  I was like huh, I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do an interview or not...but thought it would fun. I just didn't want to look like one of those idiots they usually interview on TV.

So here you have it...mine and Jim's awesome TV interview with Karli Ritter of Fox 4 KC.  The video is just a few seconds long.  And once Jim mentions the turkey hats our part is over.  The quality is terrible because Jim just videoed it from the TV off of his phone, and there are people talking in the background, but it's still kind of cool huh??  Man I wish I had put on a little make-up or something that morning!

After our interview we headed home for our Thanksgiving Day dinner.  We had a wonderful and memorable day.  Who knew a 5K would end up being so fun.  Running and triathlon have brought me so many happy memories, and I'm so lucky to have someone like Jim to share them with!

Post race, cleaned up and ready for something to eat!

BTW, I apologize to those of you who read both of our blogs, I'm sure you get a little tired of the same stories and pictures :)