Race Report - Gray Ghost 5K

You know the old fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, Curious George, and the Two Freaks? Oh, wait, not a real story. Because of a little costume snafu on Saturday, I was wolf-less for the Anoka Gray Ghost 5K for the first time in five years. But I did have two mustached pervos chasing me around for three miles - you take what you can get. You'll be happy to know that I outran them both.

This race is special to me because I grew up in Anoka and, during the several years that I worked overnights at the Anoka Police Department, I had to work the Halloween race and parade. Running the 5K beats the hell out of standing on the street corner in my dispatch uniform telling people to stay out of the road.

The weather gods cooperated and, for the brief time of the race, the sun came out. It was a brisk, windy day and the sun was very welcome. We started off the race along the parade route. After the first five blocks, I saw my mom and Sophie. Shortly after the first mile marker, I performed a flying leap over the yahoo who decided to stop right in front of me to tie his shoe. I think the cape helped me get some air on that jump.

When I heard the splits at the second mile, I knew I was on track to beat my time from last year. I kept telling my feet to keep moving. We made the final turn and I knew it was one push up the last hill and then a downhill coast to the finish. I counted down the driveways and mailboxes coming up that hill - I was done. Finally I was at the top and could see the clock. I knew if I busted my butt I could make it under 25:00. I ran, ran, ran and crossed the line at 24:57. A new course PR! Pervo #1 (aka Jim) crossed the line about 45 seconds later. Pervo #2 (aka Mac) came in just under 30 minutes, meeting his goal.

The three of us then walked back to where my mom and Sophie were still enjoying the parade. Halloween version of post-race recovery? An hour at the parade, Chipotle, and sipping on a warm
"walk-tail" later while trick-or-treating with Sophie.

Stay tuned for another race report from my 10 miler this afternoon . . .