Chicken Run Race Report

Yesterday, I got up at 6 am to run the Chicken Run, which is in conjunction with the Midwest Wings Fest. It was the first 5k that we ran, five years ago, and we missed one year, but we've run it every other year since. The first year it was actually postponed because of rain, and we didn't run for another two weeks! Steve won third place and his picture is still on the website! 

The first year, the race was at the local park where we run, but it's not big enough to support a lot of runners. Now it's at the mall, where the Wingsfest is held, so we basically run around the parking lot twice. The joke is that there's only one hill (the speed bump at the entrance).

A runner's dream, no lines!

There was one woman dressed as a chicken (pretty awesome -- feathers everywhere!) and two babies in strollers that came as chicks. 

My 5k PR is 31:29, so might have tied it (depending on what the official time turns out to be -- that's just the number I saw on the display as I ran by). A 5k is basically a sprint for three miles, so I tried to run as fast as I can so it would be uncomfortable, but at a pace I could keep up. My GPS said my split times were 9:44, 10:00, 10:04, with an average of 9:54, but even though the race is professionally measured, I apparently ran 3.2 miles. 

There was a little girl (maybe 10 years old) running with her dad. She finished right after me, but she started crying around mile one, and pretty much sobbed and whined her way through the whole thing. Just think how fast she would have been if she hadn't wasted her energy complaining! I hope she got a medal and decides to try again! 

Afterward, they had sweet tea and pancakes. Yum. Totally worth it. Run three miles, get a pancake! Here's mine: blueberry with whipped cream and syrup.

I waited for a while, but I wanted to get to Piyo at 8:30, so I wasn't able to stay for the awards. I'm in a new age group now (35-39!!) so I wanted to see how fast my competition is now!

My Wingsfest Times

2010 ... 44:49
2011 ... 39:14
2012 ... out of town
2013 ... 37:00
2014 ... 31:29* (unofficial)

So at least my times have improved!