Run Like Hell recap!

Run Like Hell was great fun. The race was ridiculous and not at all a time for a PR. First of all, there was no chip timing and the crowd at the starting line was huge. Second, people were in costumes, some of them very bulky and hard to get around - like the girl who was dressed like a tv or something (I don't really know, I only saw her from the back) that was three people wide and she was stuck behind people and I was stuck behind her. Third, it was crowded - so much so that I had to walk for 5-10 seconds in the middle of the race. Fourth, only the top 50 men and women were actually timed.

Finally, the hills were RIDICULOUS!

At first, it felt like a great run. Then I realized that it felt great because we were running downhill. Then I realized that it was an out and back course, which meant that nice downhill was going to be an uphill right at the end of the race. Actually, it wasn't quite an out-and-back - we ran down the road, ran a loop around a cemetery, then back.

The cemetery was one giant steep hill that took about 5 minutes to climb. And it was dark except footlights, so for a minute I only knew we were going uphill because it FELT like uphill. Then I caught a glimpse of some people above my head. Yes, THAT steep! At the top of a hill was a truck with its headlights on, rendering me really blind, followed by a downhill so steep that I really couldn't run it for fear of falling on my face.

It was still fun. I finished at 30:51, and called my husband, who said, "You're done already??" He had heard that they shortened the course to 2.8 miles, which makes sense. I was thrilled but given the circumstances, I really couldn't believe I had set a 5k PR.

But really, the sheer ridiculousness made it fun. People were throwing a football around while running. Some guys were dressed as a basketball team and one of them was dribbling a ball. The end of the course was littered with stray costume parts, glowsticks and a large white horn. Besides feeling a little choked by my cape at the end and losing a bit of peripheral vision, it was pretty amusing running as Batman!

Plus, out-and-back races are fun because I really like seeing the winners and cheering for them as I run. It was especially fun when they were superheroes and an Oompa Loompa!!

Next year I'll bring friends and act sillier, now that I know it's not at all a race to take seriously.