SEE JANE RUN 5K

What a great day it was!  It started with my alarm going off at 3:45a.m...time to get up, get dressed, get Steph and Riley up and in the car, and hit the road at 4:30.  I dropped Steph off at her friend's, the girl scout troop leader's house, and headed on to my race.  Riley and I arrived just past 6:30 but had to drive around for a parking space about 6 or so blocks away.  It was very difficult to find parking!  I could see it was going to be a zoo.  I nursed the boy so he'd be sure to be happy AND the 'girls' wouldn't get in the way :-P  I fastened him into the stroller and followed other runner-looking women toward the start line and registration where I got my race bib and timing chip.  It was less than an hour before the Half started and the 5K was to start at 8:30.  They staggered the 5K by age groups and finally, around 8:55 or so, about 35 of us with strollers took off!  Strollers are always at the back.  The course was mostly flat and followed along the east bay, near the Bay Bridge.  It was a little cool and it had been predicted to rain but wouldn't you know, the sun came out and was sunny the rest of the day (until we got back to Los Banos).  The first half of it was on the road, taking up 2 vehicle lanes so there was tons of room for everyone.  At the half-way/turn around point they directed us to the bike path.  Since I was in the back of the pack I had lots of people to pass, many walkers and many slower runners.  It was so annoying when I couldn't pass people!  I had to walk several times until I called out "Excuse me!" and plowed around them.  Sheesh!    Toward the finish line spectators lined the path and people cheered us on as we passed by.  My time ended up being 35:49 so not too awfully bad but I think I could have finished closer to the 30-minute mark had I not been held up by the crowd.  I picked up my medal and goody bag which contained a cool purple race shirt and several snack bars, etc., picked up my champagne glass, found the champagne booth and got a glass of bubbly, then mosied over to all the other booths for some freebies.  My friend Cathy was running the half and I saw her finish but lost track of her and never did get to see her!  I finally got ahold of her on my way to the car and she was in the first aid van, feeling really sick.  She got better and was back home in Modesto well before me!  We are now planning a 5-mile race for the 4th of July in a small town halfway between us.  Should be fun!

Riley and I headed back to San Jose to the girl scout award ceremony and got to visit with parents of the girls whom I haven't seen pretty much all year.  Afterwards, we headed on our long way home.  Wish I could say I slept like a baby Sunday night, but hope to catch up on sleep one of these days.

Here are a couple pictures from the day - there were about 2000 runners expected and the first picture is of the 5Kers: