Race results

(drum roll...)

I finished fourth, with a time of 29:16.5.

I am pleased that I finished in the top 5, and my time was good - but not great. I had a good race, but just didn't have that little extra something that it takes to feel really fast. I didn't feel as smooth and fluid as in my Thursday workout. However, I am really happy that I went because it was great to compete with other racewalkers. They were fast, too! The woman who won the race finished under 27 minutes, and she is 56 years old (and does NOT look it!). She holds the world Master's record for 5K for age 50-54, so I fully expected her to win. My friend/coach Jennifer, who drove up with me, finished 2nd with a time just over 28 minutes I think. The 3rd place woman finished in 28:52, (my best time for 5K is 28:53), and she was within striking distance of me the whole race, but I just couldn't turn on the power to get by her.

Nitty gritty race analysis: I went out a bit too fast the first mile (yeah, I should know better... sigh) at 9:06, and then the 2nd mile had a pretty good uphill for a bit so I did that in 9:47 or so, and then the last 1.1 miles I did in 10:23, picking up the pace. If I had done the first mile a bit slower I probably would have been able to do the 2nd and 3rd with a lot more kick and it would have been a faster race. I was trying too hard to stay with the walkers ahead of me instead of walking my own race.

Bottom line: I had a wonderful time anyway, and was totally thrilled just to BE there, and to be fit, and to have a chance to meet the racewalkers from Idaho.

It was a great experience to race with so many FAST women, and the atmosphere of the race (the Boise Women's Fitness Celebration) is fabulous. It's a huge 5K race (for women only, and over 10,000 women do the race!) that starts off with the elite wheelchair athletes. Then 5 min later the racewalkers get their own start! With thousands of women watching and cheering us on, we were off. 10 minutes later, the elite runners started, and then after them the rest of the runners started. The top elite runners passed me about 3-4 minutes before I reached the finish line, and it was really fun to watch them zoom by me as if I were standing still. What was neat about the order of the race start was that I could really see what place I was in and could tell exactly who was in front of me and how far, with no runners crowding the view.

The race has an amazingly festive feeling about it. Before the start, they had a dove release - hundreds of doves were loosed from ornate white wicker boxes, representing the dreams and hopes of the women in attendance. There were brightly colored balloon arches at the start, at each mile mark, and at the awards stage. Finally, along the last 0.1 mile of the race, men wearing tuxedo shirts, jackets, cummerbunds and bow ties along with shorts (yep, shorts!) flanked the race course and cheered the women on to the finish. They call it "Tuxedo Row".

They actually recognized the racewalkers in the awards ceremonies - the top 5 racewalkers, wheelchair athletes, and elite runners got flowers and recognition on stage. The wheelchair athletes and runners get prize money, and the racewalkers used to, but in recent years the race has not been officially judged (lack of qualified judges) so they don't give prize money to racewalkers anymore. However, I didn't care - I was thrilled to be on stage and receive a beautiful bouquet of multicolored roses.

After the awards for the top finishers, they added a beautiful touch - they gave each woman over 70 that completed the race a red rose, and a tuxedo-clad man escorted her across the stage, dancing to music by a live band. They announced the names and ages of all the over-70 finishers as they danced across the stage, and the crowd went wild.

The race allowed people to enter as competitive runners (timed), competitive fitness walkers (timed), or noncompetitive walkers (untimed, pushing strollers, etc.). So many women turned out to celebrate fitness and getting in shape. Women of all sizes, shapes, and colors were out there having a great time. I was heartened to see many larger-sized women out there, and I wish them all well in beginning or continuing their journey to fitness. It was obviously a place where any woman could feel comfortable, no matter her fitness level, her age, or her size, and I loved that.

I'm going to try and post some pictures soon.