Run For The Roses 5K Race Review

This past weekend was another Bozeman weekend for me and Jeff as the MSU Bobcats took on the Weber State Wildcats. The Cats scored another win, and we saw lots of family and friends as it was Family Weekend at MSU. It felt a little like the whole HiLine had migrated south for the game! So great to see so many familiar faces from the North Country!

Also, before proceeding, I want to thank everyone who checked out my previous post about my StitchFix haul for October. That post got 260 pageviews in 24 hours! That is definitely an all-time high for me. I hope some of you who tuned in for that will stick around for some more blog posts and learn what PrairiePonderingsMT is all about!

A highlight of the weekend for me was participation in the Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority's annual Run For The Roses 5K. They abbreviate it as R4R, so that's what I'll do here. This was apparently the 18th year for R4R, but only the second time I have participated in the race. I think since the dissemination of info about the race is up to a crew of sorority girls that probably turns over in leadership every year, it's been difficult to find details about the race in the past sometimes. The last time I did this was I think about 4 years ago, but I can't remember for sure. This year, I was able to track down the pertinent details, and again some of my family and friends participated in the event as well! Our crew participating in R4R this year included me, Jeff, Jeff's sister Katie (who's nearly 8 months pregnant!), Katie's husband Josh, my Mother-in-Law Carol, and our friend Amanda.

Our group posing before the race in front of Montana Hall on the MSU campus, which is where the race began.
Josh and Carol are in the back row. Front row, left to right: Amanda, Katie, Me, Jeff.

We did not sign up for the race until race day, but found sign-up to be pretty quick and easy. The registration fee was only $10 to just run and $20 if you also wanted a t-shirt. I'm a fan of race shirts, and this one was a keeper, so Jeff and I both sprung for the tee. It's a nice, soft, basic red cotton tee with, I think, an understated but nice graphic on the front.

Showing off the race tee, post race. 

It seemed like they had at least 100 people participating in the race, either as 1 mile or 5K runners or walkers. A nice crowd, but not overwhelming.  At race time, it was in the upper 30s and sunny, with no wind--beautiful conditions for a fall race in a mountain town.

As we got ready to begin the race, the girl in charge spoke a bit about the AOII philanthropy cause of the race- Arthritis Research. A little boy with Arthritis was there and his mom got a little teary as she spoke about what life was like for the kid. It always inspires me to think about others who are dealing with hardships in their lives, so I had the kid on my mind as I prepared for the race.  Josh and I neared the front of the pack. Jeff started off farther back with Amanda, both as runners, near Carol and Katie, who walked the course. Soon, we were off and running (or walking, as it were)!

I spotted this rose on the sidewalk outside the AOII house after the race.
Hard to tell, but it was actually sparkly! 

The course was gradual downhill for the first two full miles. I kept a pretty quick pace, hoping I'd be able to hold on for what I knew would be some uphill in the last mile. I had my first two miles complete in about 18 minutes. I tried to save splits on my Timex watch, but must have pushed the wrong button at some point, so now I'm just going on what I think I remember for times at mile one and two.

Josh was just a little ahead of me for most of the race, but expanded his lead when we got to the long, deathy uphill in the last mile. Usually, I can mentally power through hills without slowing down too much, but once again, I started to get a bad sideache and ultimately slowed way down. I don't get why that happens, and it's frustrating. Clearly I need to do more research. On the plus side, some of the breathing pattern techniques I've been practicing kept me from having to stop completely to a walk. I completed my last 1.14 miles in ten minutes (frown face!) and finished the race with a time of 28:11.

The race ended outside the AOII house. If you really look hard, you can spot Carol and Katie in this photo.

I was a little disappointed because I felt like without the sideache, I was on pace to shatter my PR of 26:32, but still really happy with the salvaged time being ahead of my average 5K time. That's just how it goes sometimes. Overall, I was really happy that I did the race, and that so many of my family members were there, too, especially Jeff. Jeff, after taking quite a bit of time off of running over the summer, had a pretty good time, and was happy. So, I'm happy and encouraged for him.

The only true disappointment about the race was that the Dry Tailgate advertised for post-race snacks turned out to be an extra fee. It wasn't a big fee, but I had written a check for our race entry and t-shirts and didn't have any cash. So, all we could do was look at the delicious food items on the grill and try not to notice how good they smelled. Oh well! If they're going to do it that way in the future, I wish they would let people buy a ticket or sign up on a list or something during registration so we could pay for it all at once. Oh well!

Overall, it was a good community race, with a nice route and plenty of signage/Sorority Girls cheering and marking the way, and it was a nice way to spend a morning doing something active outdoors with family.

Carol and Katie completing the walk with smiles on their beautiful faces! 

Next up on our race calendar? Probably the Huffing For Stuffing Run in Bozeman, or the Burn The Bird in Great Falls. Both are on Thanksgiving Day, and both events offer a 10K, which I am strongly considering. Which race Jeff and I do will just depend on where we are for Thanksgiving. Until next time, runners and readers!