A couple of months ago my brother and I were talking and he mentioned a sign he'd seen about a race in the Collegedale (Chattanooga) area. It was during a time that I needed to come down to do some work on one of our rentals. So I decided to combine the two things.
The information online was extremely limited and I was a bit apprehensive about where and what what going to happen. The race was at 2pm on a Sunday which is very unusual. But I showed up at the correct time and sure enough - there was a race.
Dominic decided at the last minute to run.
The goodie bags were almost non-existent, the bibs didn't have chips, and we were handed an ankle bracelet for the chip. The race began near the police station and the guy starting the timer couldn't find the start line. So we just haphazardly lined up, all 30-40 of us.
The course ran through a partially finished subdivision and was hilly and full of switch backs. But it was pleasant weather and low key. So I really enjoyed myself. I hadn't brought any of my gps devices so only had my stop watch. But I figured since it was put on by Southern Outdoor Club that it would be accurate. Wrong assumption. Pretty sure the course was a tad longer than 3.1 miles.
I finished and was handed a card to fill out that helped determine my place in the race, because the timer had quit working. The organization was sloppy and non-existent. After 4 attempts at the award ceremony they finally had everything sorted out and the correct medals to the correct people. I sunburned. Not from the race, but from standing there waiting while they did the ceremony four times. We stood there longer than it took me to run the race.
But I won first place in my age division so I don't really want to complain too much.
All in all, it was fun and slightly crazy and I'm actually contemplating doing it again. Just think - in two years I'll be able to run as a Masters and could get 1st Masters overall. =)
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