race recap: scioto mile(s) ten-miler (aka, my dad is awesome)

I know. I know. If you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all…but…well, I have some nice things to say. My problem is the greater DC races have me “race spoiled!”

While driving home (which means Ohio not Virginia!), I made a 100+ mile detour to pick-up my race packet. When I arrived, I was told, “Sorry, we don’t have any small shirts left…here’s a medium….we’ll let you know when we get some smalls in and you can pick one up.” Me: “Well, I live in Virginia.” Girl: “Okay, we’ll mail you one.” Me: completely skeptical look. I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ll be honest, I’ve never not had the shirt size that I chose during the registration provided. Perhaps, Fleet Feet Columbus should start having “register by ____ to guarantee shirt” disclosures.

I asked the FFCbus gal about parking (since I was starting to realize my Brilliant Idea about getting up before the crack of dawn to run a race may be losing its brilliance). She reiterated the same information I gathered from the website and later emails…park at COSI, ride the bus and life will be good. (I made up that last part.) She did offer some new (valuable) info…I would have to pay the COSI parking fee $5. Really?! You couldn’t make that part of the $60 entry fee?!

Well, as it turns out, I am capable of waking up at 3:25 and being ready to leave at 3:50…a mad new skill I hope to not use often. Even more impressive was my dad was ready, too. It was great that he rode along because, as I told him later, I wouldn’t have enjoyed all that talk by myself. It kept me alert and, besides, his directions were better than the GPS. We arrived to the COSI parking lot in plenty of time. I didn’t have to run and catch the last bus, which I had envisioned happening. Yay, us! Dad walked his little girl to the bus, and waved a “good luck” wave! Love him!

What could go wrong riding a bus to the race? (…a bus hired to transport racers from the finish to the start of the point-to-point race?) Well, if your bus driver doesn’t know where he is going it could be a problem. Luckily it meant a longer, perhaps, more “scenic” tour of Columbus, Ohio. I was regretting not using the portable bathrooms at the bus pick-up…. At one point, the skilled bus-driver took our yellow school bus down a tight neighborhood alley, where a shirtless man was eating his breakfast, reading the paper, when we caught his attention and he our attention. Hello, sir! He was probably thinking this a strange dream. But it wasn’t. Eventually, we arrived at the starting line. The race director greeted us before we deboarded the bus. He told us where to find the “bathrooms,” when to be ready to run, and thanking us for running the race. You’re welcome.

And, now I realized that there were three portable bathrooms. WHAT?! Forty minutes with my newest friends, where we discussed how many bathrooms we would have ordered, how we could make the line shorter…races we’ve run, what we eat for “energy”…we had so much time on our hands. It isn’t the longest wait for a bathroom but still…THREE?!

10-Miler. Honestly, this may be my favorite race distance. I always feel like I ran a good distance and I don’t get a queasy stomach…well, until this race. After about 1 1/2 miles along the quiet serene Scioto River, we started running down a lane on the road. And that’s what we did for about 7 miles. Nothing to look at except businesses, some apartments…how did I not understand this when I registered?! I really thought that I was running the whole race along the Scioto River…so I was a sad runner…so sad. But eventually we made it back to the river to finish the race along the water. If I had looked closely at this map, I may have known this but I was focused on the words on the race website: “One BEAUTIFUL course along the banks of the Scioto River.”

And because my dad is really the only person I know who plans better than me! HAHA! I knew I was looking for his bright yellow ball cap! There he was at the finish line waiting for me! Awesome spectator! I received my finisher’s medal and then collected some goodies from Whole Foods and a cup of chocolate milk from the Snowville Creamery! (YUMMY!)

The runner to cross the finish line third was the actual “winner” of the race because the $1000 prize money was given to the runner with the best age-gender score. You know me…too much to read, so I didn’t read the details. Here’s what the Scioto Mile(s) website states: “Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time.”

I was pleased with my time. I ran at my average 10-miler pace so that we good news. And, while the race wasn’t exactly what I expected, I had a good time. The race itself was smaller than most that I run. I loved chatting with other runners. And the water stop volunteers were cheerful and loud! I love when volunteers cheer on runners especially a race with few spectators like this race. Go, volunteers! I thought it was nice that the race director rode his bike through the course and cheered us on as he made his way to the finish line.

After leaving the race, we made our way back to the car to sit around in line because we had to pay to get out. $8. Not $5. Really?! I’ll just stop talking!

Best part of the morning, hanging out with my dad and taking him for a traditional post-race brunch. Quite possibly my favorite thus far! Yummy, yummy Wildflower Cafe!

So, in the end, I had a great race but truthfully, it was fun spending time with my dad. I so appreciate my parents for all their support. My dad never hesitated when he said that he would ride along when I made the early morning adventure two hours away to run a race. And he never questioned my sanity. Thankfully. I realized this Brilliant Idea was a little less brilliant but glad I ran the race!