Today was perfect weather for a race, mild temps and a light breeze. Rob, Drew and I headed to Peoria for the Peoria Chiefs 4M race. It’s the fourth year of this race, but the date this year was moved from Memorial Day to today due to the Peoria Chiefs calendar. They have the race when the Chiefs are home because all entrants get a ticket for the game that day. The date change appeared to have a huge effect on attendance. Last year’s race had 283 participants, this year seemed like less than 100. It was probably the smallest race I’ve ever ran. Still I was going to give it my all. I spent the race running alone.  A small handful of guys in front of me that included Rob and another ORRT member Mike. I was never challenged for position, but I pushed forward and tried to mentally stay in race mode even with the solitude. The course is three loops around the outside of the baseball stadium and then finishing with a loop inside to home plate. I love the format of this race, such a simple course to just do loops.

Mike took the win and Rob was 3rd overall. I was first female overall with a 27:49. It’s not a PR, but I improved my time on the course. Drew set a wicked PR improving his 38:XX 4M time with a 33:52.

This race does great with awards. Mike and I both received Louisville slugger bats that were embossed with the race and our Top Male/Female Overall.

Rob was first in his Age Group and received the mini bat with embossed with his win.

And Drew got 2nd in his Age Group and received a Peoria Chiefs ball embossed with the age group win.

The best part was after we received our awards they asked Mike and I to come back for an interview down on the field before the start of the game. 🙂 So we zipped home to clean up and head back for the afternoon game.

The interview went well. They mentioned that I’ve raced every year since the race’s inception in 2008 and asked us about ORRT. They even called attention to our green adidas uniforms and I made sure to mention that our uniforms were the new season colors for adidas and everyone should check them out. I also got to mention to the crowd that this award was special to me because it was my first 1st Female award. They mentioned the range of ages for the race being from 6 years to 73 years old. I said that running is a lifetime sport and I hope to enjoy running and racing for the rest of my life.

After our interview I popped down into the dugout and asked some of the Chiefs to sign my bat. They were very nice. They seemed impressed with my ability to run 4 miles straight and in a time they considered fast that they couldn’t do for a mile. I said they are probably so used to sprinting. We talked about upcoming Steamboat and I wished them well on their game.

We were able to stay for an inning, but then had to leave to get to Drew’s family cookout. Chiefs did win their game against South Bend, 5-1. We got in a couple more pictures before we headed out. Me and Mike with his son Shelby who is also very fast and won his Age Group.

Stats:
27:49
6:58 Pace
F: 1/?
Overall: 6/65
It was such a fun day! We all enjoyed the race and the weather and then we got to spend the evening with family. 🙂