Eric's Running Adventures: Amy Thompson Run 8K RR

*WARNING* After the RR I will have pictures of a red-tailed hawk, some of which showing it eating a squirrel.
*WARNING*

What: Amy Thompson Run 8K
When: May 30, 2011
Where: Loose Park, Kansas City, MO
Finish Time: 41:35 (unofficial)

Pre-race:Since I had decided not to "race" the 8K, I figured I would do a long warm-up and ended up running a 4 mile warm-up run finishing about 25-30 minutes before the race. I realize that's a bit too early to finish a real warm-up, but since I didn't plan on racing, I was fine with it.

After about 5-10 minutes of stretching I walked around and snapped some pictures (mostly of the red-tail hawk).

Picture of the finish area.

Picture of the finishing hill. It's not bad, but still noticeable.

Picture of the starting area.

I decided to line up about 10 minutes prior to race time.

Facing the start (Yes I am a master of the obvious).

Facing behind me.

A prayer was said, the National Anthem was sung, and we were off. Miles 1-3 were uneventful and I was averaging right around a 8:00 and feeling comfortable. To keep this a bit shorter, I will let the pics tell the story.

Mile 1:

Early in the mile.

Roughly 2/3 through Mile 1.

Mile 2:

Start of Mile 2.

A few moments later.

A little more than 3/4 through Mile 2.

Mile 3:

Start of Mile 3.

Near the end of Mile 3.

Mile 4:

Mile 4 started off well, but about 1/2 way through the mile, my left knee started getting a dull ache so I walked for a bit. I would pick it up after about 30 seconds and run until the dull ache returned. The ache wasn't my ITB, but right around the front of the knee. Even with the walk breaks, I finished the mile in about 8:33.

Approaching the 5K clock.

Mile 5:

I didn't take any more photos while running, as for some reason, I tend not to take photos during forced walk breaks. Mile 5 was more of the same as Mile 4. I walked probably 1/3 of Mile 5. I decided to play it safe and make sure my knee was fine. I walked some of the inclines and ran most of the downhills. My last walk break was at about the 4.5 mile point. I decided I wanted to finish strong and started to pick up my pace. I started my kick when I reached the bottom the hill, turned the corner, and started going up the last hill to the finish. About 0.2 miles from the finish a young whippersnapper, OK he was probably early 20s, started to sprint past me. This kicked in my competitive juices and I sprinted with him. It was neck and neck and the crowd was cheering us on. According to my Garmin, my kick going uphill was at 13 MPH. I really don't know who won, as it would have been a photo finish. I think I cleared all the mats first since he pulled up and didn't run through. We congratulated each other on a great finish and he said he was just trying to keep up with me.

I walked around, partook in some of the post-race food, and then went back to cheer in the other runners. I ended up snapping a picture of the group of soldiers (Army) from Ft. Riley, KS that ran in formation.

I then snapped some pictures of the post-run festivities.

The food area.

KC Wolf (Chiefs Mascot since 1989)

After the pictures, I stopped at the booth for free ART and had about a 15 minute session.

That's it for the RR, thanks to everyone who read all the way through. Now for the pictures of the red-tailed hawk. Feel free to avert your eyes if your squeamish.