S-NO-W fun run 5 miler... aka the awesomest day ever

You might remember me telling you all about this race. A random stranger on a shuttle bus told me about it. I immediately Tweeted my friend Renee to tell her that we MUST do this. So we signed up (at the exact same time, as it turns out), and got a hotel room so that we could drink ourselves stupid at the post-race party.

We met in Lake Geneva a couple of hours before the race, to check in, grab food, and get our race stuff. Instead of a "boring old t-shirt," as the website says, we got this:

Not too shabby for the first race of the year!

So after chilling out for a bit, we followed a hoard of people to the start line (yeah, we had no idea where it was. The Grand Geneva resort is HUGE.) We took this (fulfilling one of my 2012 goals):
At an undetermined time, at an undetermined start line, we were OFF!

Mile 1: Clearly people were not lined up in any sort of order. We're passing walkers and slow people, but fast men in tiny shorts are passing us like we're standing still. Good thing mile 1 is a warmup! With a sweet downhill! That eventually we will have to go back up... crap. Won't think about that now. 8:35

Mile 2: We got so lucky with the weather. It's beautiful outside. The sun is shining, and we're running fast, in January, without a foot of snow on the ground. I'm not complaining at all! We pick it up this mile and decide to keep with it. 8:08

Mile 3: Just cruising along now, chatting and admiring brave souls who wore their bunny costumes TO the race. (Next year I'm getting a tail!) It's really, really fun. The time is passing very quickly. 7:58

Mile 4: We're passing a ton of people at this point, as they seem to be getting tired, whereas we are only getting stronger. We slow down a tad about halfway through this mile, as we have both decided to kill it in the last mile. But still finish this one with a terrific time. 7:57

Mile 5: Remember that sweet downhill? Now we have to go up. This absolutely kills me. It's hard. My legs hurt. If I didn't have Renee beside me pushing me up that hill, I swear I never would have made it.

So we get to the top of the hill, and the volunteer says something like, "Great job, almost done, just around the corner." I look down at Garmin - 4.60. That man was a dirty liar!

Now we're on the path next to the golf course. There's actually a few spectators, some with funny signs (one being my favorite race sign - "Worst. Parade. Ever."), cheering us as we sprint to the finish. I kick it in and finish WAY better than I expected to! 7:49

FINAL TIME: 40:29
AVERAGE PACE: 8:07
LESSON LEARNED: What happens at the S-NO-W Fun Run, stays at the S-NO-W Fun Run. (More on that later).
NEXT 5 MILER: Well, this one FOR SURE in 2013. (Sounds soooo far away.)

After the race, we did what everybody always does at the end of races... went to the Schnapps table for shots of cinnamon Schnapps!

We went back to our room for some dry clothes, then headed back to the swingin' post-race party. Free beer galore. Leinenkugel's and Miller. Ahhhhh! We got some food, but all the tables were taken, and we didn't want to block the aisles, so we joined another group and made new friends. We picked the right group! Everyone was awesome and SO MUCH FUN.

The girls:

Some people dressed in costume:

I'm not going to get into the events of the evening. I will just leave you with the following quotes, a picture that is worth 1,000 words, and the knowledge that I am friends with the 2012 Sausage Queen.

"What kind of beer is this?"
"It's... beer."

"I have sex with that girl. A LOT!"



Best. Race. Ever.