Photos of Me and My Team at the Brian Kraft 5K

Race buddy Tom R put an album of photos on Facebook from the Brian Kraft 5K on Monday. (Thanks for the great photos, Tom!) He raced too, but he had a friend standing just beyond the start, and then just in between the mile 3 marker and the finish. Here are some I'd like to share:

500 people lined up around Lake Nokomis.


GOOOO!


From fellow Dad Brian. I'm somewhere behind the neon green hat near the right.




Teammate Mike (orange hat) starting.


THEE Rick Recker (tanned), followed by a 7-year-old who ran a sub-28 5K!


Fast forward 13 minutes: #1 looks as if he's about to take the win. BUT...


... the guy with the long hair really had a kick!


About to take the win in 14:32!


#HamstringGoals


Lots of faces looked like this in the closing meters.


The lead female in 16:13. And it looks like #63 back there is hardly moving, but the photo is a lie.


Doran looking (and being) fast.


Patrick Parish behind a teammate of his.


Lots of "spitty lips" near the end of the race...


... some on this guy too.


I THINK I'VE STUMBLED UPON A SECRET FOR RUNNING FAST: close your eyes...


... SEE?!? It worked for these guys too. All around 17:00.


Pained faces!


Rob E running a good race!


Nathan (shades) was in front of me all day.


I chatted with Kyle S a bit before the race. He finished just a few seconds in front of me.


There's me back there!

In my race report, I noted running the tangents well. The race was a loop around Lake Nokomis (with the lake to the left), but at a few spots, we curved to the right. I cut partway across the road to run the direct line, but all the runners around me stayed in the left gutter taking "the long way" around those right-veering corners:

Red = veering right.

But in that last 0.2 miles or so, I moved a bit to the outside because I had just passed teammate Niko but I was dying; I gave him a line to pass me.

Topless Niko making the pass.




Lots of pain in this photo.


We had broken away from teammate Jamie 2:00 earlier, and he's now behind #425.


Dear God. The faces.


Kirt and Suzie!


Tom R. Thanks again for these photos, Tom!


Teammate Mike!


Teammate Senator Dibble!


Nordica on the right, and pregnant Nicole on the left!


This guy is notoriously topless. I lined up next to him at
a 40 degree race in Oct of 2015, and he was shirtless.


Team captain Rose! And Joan in the hat!


Cute couple Tom and Laurie! (And Rachael back there in the pink too!)


People gathered around the finish, trying to find the shade on that hot day!

And here are a few photos that Scott posted of our team:

Some of the team pre-race.


More of the team! (With Niko's perfect abs everything.)


Rose!


Tom and Laurie (with Mike in the background).


Andrea was the only teammate I couldn't find in Tom's photos.


Post-race party at a teammate's house. (I didn't go - I got home to relieve the babysitter ASAP.)


More partying.

Here's my race report if you missed it - it wasn't anything exciting, but I tried a new strategy of not looking at my splits during the race. Back with some "Friday Funnies" tomorrow!