Reindeer Run Race Report

>> Saturday, December 01, 2007

Or, “I Got Third! No...Not in the Race...”

Or, “Good Day For a Run in a Blizzard.”

First of all, thanks for all the comments and notes about Pharmie’s and Steph’s stolen cars. Pharmie’s car is being fixed, and there’s still no word on Steph’s car – it may just be gone for good. Pharmie is a little bummed, and Steph is coming to terms with the fact that she may not see her car again. Losing a car is no fun matter, but overall, the 3 of us know that things could be MUCH worse. We live a pretty good life.

On to the race report...

Last night, I had my typical pre-race crappy meal. It wasn’t that bad for me. I just ate too much. I made a HUGE quesadilla that was filled with oniony, garlicy, beany, sausagey, corny, and cheesey goodness. Then I polished off a half bag of beef jerky. Yummers.

I headed off to the Reindeer Run 5K early this morning. It was 17 degrees, with a lot of wind. They were saying that we were going to be getting A LOT of snow today, but there was no sign of that this morning. Matt was kind enough to lend me his car, as I was the only one home and we are suddenly running short on vehicles. Here’s Lake Harriet as I got out of the car:



I was dressed to impress. Allow me to show you a few photos of what I wore, as well as predict what you are currently thinking:


“Oh, that’s funny.
I mean, you’ve done better, but it’s still good.”


“Oh my God, is that...
no, it can’t be...did he really?...”


“OH MY GOD!! He f*cking did it!!
I don’t believe it! He f*cking did it!!”

Yep, I’m pretty proud of this one. It was actually (get this!) suggested to me by my Mother-In-Law! It was her idea! She’s come to terms with how random and strange I can be, and now she embraces it. She makes AWESOME quilts out of old blue jeans, and those “shorts” were leftovers from cutting up a pair of jeans. She gave them to me, hoping that I would wear them in a race.

At the individual costume competition before the race, I placed 3rd! People thought my outfit was funny, and then I’d turn around and show them the bum. THEN they’d REALLY laugh! This is the guy who came in first:


If his costume and my costume got together, they would
make the SWEETEST and most hilarious costume babies

Because I got third, I was given these sweet Reindeer Run mittens:



The announcer didn’t know what to call me. He kept referring to my “jeans thong.” I told him that my costume was “a married guy who’s wife is out of town and he couldn’t dress himself.” The women in the group liked that description.

Oh, I liked this group, who dressed like “Mario Carts:”



After the costume competition, I ran into Jumper. We were just able to say hi, because he was off to find his family, and I was off to drop off my jacket and pants in Matts car. Jumper, as they say, sure is a tall drink of water! I dropped off my excess clothes, and got to the starting line. This is what it looked like:


People EVERYWHERE!!

I was near the front of the pack, a few rows back. I was chatting it up with a few people who were asking about my costume. Then we were off. It had started snowing about 30 minutes before, and the course was packed with about a half inch of snow. We now couldn’t even see across the little lake that we were running around because of the falling and blowing snow:



It was a little slick – it wasn’t slippery, it was just hard to get traction on the push-off of each stride. I knew my time wouldn’t be spectacular, but I was hoping that it wouldn’t be my slowest 5K of the year.

Well, it WAS my slowest 5K of the year. Yep, I ran a PW. I finished in 19:34. That was a few seconds slower than the Monster Dash 5K that I ran on the same course in the same suspenders, undies, and socks. Oh well. I figured that I finished around 20th overall, which was a little better than I figured I could do. As I was running down the chute, the announcer said, “Here comes the guy in the thong again! That’s gross! I’m just kidding...” For what it’s worth, I was the fastest costumed runner. Here’s a quick photo from right after I finished:



I stuck around a little bit, cheered for a few more finishers, and then headed back to the car, which was along the race route. I snapped a photo as I was nearing my car, which shows the mass of people still running. These would be about 30- to 40-minute finishers:



I drove back home. The weather was sucking:



My day wasn’t done yet. I had to get Matt’s car back to him. I drove to his place, thanked him and gave him his keys, and took off on foot for a “cool down” run back home (about 3 miles). It was getting windier and snowier. Here’s the scene as I was getting home on that run:



I got in the house, looking like this:



I was a little chilly, but pretty happy with my snowy run. There was about 2 inches of snow out there, and some swirling winds, but I was just fine. What a great day for a Minnesotan run!

p.s. I would have posted a little sooner, but I was wrapped up in the Ironman Kona coverage on NBC. It was sweet! It makes me want to do it again...

24 comments:

Tri+Umph 6:20 PM, December 01, 2007  

Your ability to predict my thoughts is uncanny, Steve. You f*cking did it!

I have to say, though, I'm definitely not jealous of the Minnesotan winter!

RunBubbaRun 6:40 PM, December 01, 2007  

That outfit, I think you had a wardrobe malfunction..

I think we are getting the snow from your area now,,

Still, a great job on the 5k..

Unknown 7:00 PM, December 01, 2007  

The shorts are definitely you. You Minnesotans sure do dress up to run a lot....
I tried to watch the Kona coverage too, but had to stop and give the kids a ride to work. That's OK - I know how it ends.

Anonymous,  7:03 PM, December 01, 2007  

Great pictures! Gotta love the shorts!

Rainmaker 7:41 PM, December 01, 2007  

Dude - that's awesome! (The costume). More awesomeness awarded to the solid job on the 5K. And extra points for the final 3 miles in the snow. I wish it would snow here...everyone else is getting snow except me.

RobbyB 11:09 PM, December 01, 2007  

Your thong would've been better with some brown streaks...

Still a nice race. Can't complain about a sub-20 in those conditions.

MissAllycat 2:06 PM, December 02, 2007  

Again...I just saw you in passing. It was probably when you were taking pictures of the 30-40 minute finishers - I saw you as I was on the last part of the trail by the lake. This is the second time I've seen you while running. Probably because you're so easy to spot. :) Looking forward to next time.

Marcy 5:53 PM, December 02, 2007  

That is one hot ass thong! I'll have to borrow that sometime LMAO!

Dude, you KILL ME! HAHA!

CoachLiz 6:10 PM, December 02, 2007  

Those jeans really let you freeze your ass off! LOL!!

I was a dork and told my buddies Ironman Kona coverage started at 4:30 and not 3:30 central time. DOH! Oh well, everyone was there by 4 and we were still able to drink a beer and watch the Normanator puke on the bike.

tracie 7:40 PM, December 02, 2007  

LOVED THE COSTUME!!! We were lucky on our Reindeer Run, no snow. Sucks it was snowy for you guys!

Great job on the run!

teacherwoman 8:00 PM, December 02, 2007  

Nice outfit, dude! running in the snow is crazy fun, isn't it!?

I was watching Kona as well!

xt4 8:51 PM, December 02, 2007  

Seriously just spit out my drink all over myself for that outfit. That was friggin' hysterical. You rule. Great race.

Kate 10:45 PM, December 02, 2007  

seriously... my behind gets cold when it has 3 real layers on it, let alone... that =0)

you rock

E-Speed 6:39 AM, December 03, 2007  

yay for winning stuff! Your personal worst of the year is better than all of my 5ks but one ever!

Snow is a bear to race in, glad you had fun.

Hope you find Stephs car. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be.

Born To Endure 6:40 AM, December 03, 2007  

Oh my god..you are so funny!! Thanks for the Monday a.m. laugh..glad you had a blast!!!!!

Jessica 8:39 AM, December 03, 2007  

I would probably run a personal worst too if I had a jean thong on... That's too funny!

Allez 1:14 PM, December 03, 2007  

You and your costumes!!!

LittleRachet 1:45 PM, December 03, 2007  

I feel sorry for those running behind you....I'm sure they had a PW too since they were laughing so hard!

Tri-Dummy 6:11 PM, December 03, 2007  

Dude. Your costume was hilarious. Loved it.

Sorry about your cars. I hate thieves.

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) 8:18 PM, December 03, 2007  

Hilarious!!!!
and great job on your time!
I watched the Kona coverage, too - bawling my eyes out as usual...
Jenny

the Dread Pirate Rackham 12:45 AM, December 04, 2007  

I am speechless on the shorts. and the weather. y'all get some real weather out there. Ow!

Lance Notstrong 9:42 AM, December 04, 2007  

It's tough to beat a guy with half a bike strapped to his ass!!! :-)

ShirleyPerly 11:44 AM, December 04, 2007  

Ya'll are crazy up north, that's for sure! Nice PW!!

Unknown 7:35 PM, December 04, 2007  

dude - raceathlete has you up for one of the best bloggers of the year. pls give us a shameless post for votes soon, 'kay?

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