In 2010 and 2011 I spent my independence day mornings running the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. Even thought it is now a 60,000 person race, the largest 10-K in the country, entires are based on a lottery system due to high demand. I managed to get a spot in the race for the 3rd year in a row this spring, but could not swing a trip back to Atlanta for a Wednesday morning race. To satisfy my need to run on July 4th, I ran the 1st annual Flagstaff Downtown Mile. I have been hiking and trying to keep up my running in 7,000 foot Flagstaff, but it has been a little tough. Because of the altitude, I convinced myself that an 11 or 12 minute race time would be just fine. Little did I know that Flagstaff is a seriously fast city....
The race consisted of two half-mile loops right downtown and took place in age-group waves. When I saw some of the masters men (40 +) cross the half-mile line at just over 3 mins I knew I was in for some trouble. But it was a good kind of trouble, because the fast pace of my fellow racers led me to a great time of 8 mins, 29 secs. I definitely needed my inhaler after the race, but was very excited about my super fast time. Jay also ran the race - super fast at just over 6 mins. its a struggle to run here, I know I'm going to be in great shape when I get back to Atlanta.
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| Champions! |
To celebrate afterwards, we enjoyed delicious coffee and watched the annual 4th of July parade. Our expectations for a 60,000 person town parade were exceed ten fold. There were something like 100 floats/groups, including super fun things like National Forest fire trucks, 100 year-old tractors, dance troops, horses and more classic/muscle cars than I could count.
After the race I treated myself to a lazy afternoon to recuperate. In addition to sitting on the sofa for a long time, I also enjoyed a free symphony concert. I missed running the Peachtree and celebrating the 4th with Atlanta folks, but had a great Arizona independence day!
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| With Laurel and our colleague Nicole at the symphony. |
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