Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Pat's Run



It was thrilling to participate in the Pat Tillman run on Saturday. His jersey number was 42, so the race was 4.2 miles. Meredith loaded her little family up at 5:15 in the morning, so she and I could be a part of this great event. We were in the midst of a sea of people. Over 20,000 people attended. There was a wonderful spirit there. It was very gratifying to finish this race. I had one expectation of myself: Not to finish last! Perhaps, I should have set my standard a little higher; however, this was the first 5k event I have participated in, and I did not know what to expect.

The best part about the race was hearing people warn each other about the killer hill. I tried to pace myself for this hill. I kept looking for it. Meredith and I were separated, so I asked a lady where the hill was.

"You just did it," She responded!

I could not believe it. It was more like running an incline up the bridge. I was so concerned about being separated form Meredith and trying to catch up with her, that I did not even notice it.

At the beginning of the race, a woman gave me a high-five when she learned that I came from Georgia to do this race. Actually, I went to Arizona to be with Meredith. Running Pat's Race was an added bonus of my time with her.

Here are my Stats:


20,629 people finished the race. I was 11,093.

10,339 were women.  I was the 4,289th woman to finish.  I was happy about finishing in the top half.

In my age bracket of women between the ages of 40-42, there was 625 of us.

I came in at 280.

I ran at a pace of 10.59 per mile.

I completed the race in 46.07 minutes.

Not too shabby for a girl who just didn't want to finish last last!


A sea of people.
This photo really does not capture how many people were in the stadium.
Meredith and I were separated at the finish line. It took us over 10 minutes to locate each other. 
I was just about in a panic mode when I finally heard her call my name!



Lindsay and Caroline ran in the kid's fun run. Caroline was a trooper. 
She has an ingrown toe nail, but she ran the race anyway wearing her Ugg boots. 

Hooray for Uggs!



6 comments:

Ed Parrott said...

Good run Jeannie! I live about 3 miles from Sun Devil Stadium, If I had been paying attention I could have stopped in over there & said hi! Next time...

Quincy Sorensen said...

Hooray for Jeannie and Meredith! You gals are some seriously beautiful runners! I am proud of both of you. But you've got to give yourself the full credit--you ran four miles and at a great pace, too!

Meredith said...

Remember, it was LONGER than 5k - it was 4.2 miles!!! I had the best time running this with you. What a wonderful event that I am glad we could both be a part of, my entire family actually. And remember how it started to get warm? That is why it started so early!

Susan said...

Congratulations Jeannie!

Natalie said...

Way to go Jeannie!! I loved reading all about your run. You did it! It sounds like it went great, and I agree with Quincy, you are both beautiful runners!

Anonymous said...

SOOOOO PROUD OF YOU!!!! Awesome time!