The goal this year was 12 races – an easy average of one a month. So I did 13!
As has become my habit – January was a time of rest. That sounds better than “The weather is too unpredictable and I don’t want to risk being snowed or colded out.” (new word I just invented, there!) So the first race was the annual Kick-Off 5K. Called that because traditionally, it has been on Super Bowl Sunday morning, February 6. The NFL decided to mess us up and add a game or week or some foolishness to their schedule, so the race was the week before. It was cold and so I did it virtually, in my neighborhood on September 24. Wasn’t a great start to the year, but I committed to it, and I did it.
Next on the list wasn’t until April 2. This one was special – it was a 10K instead of the usual 5K and there was another reason! I had turned 65 the week before and since a 10K is 6.2 miles, I wanted to go until my tracker read 6.5 miles, to commemorate my 65th trip around the sun. It was a challenge to say the least. Two friends, Lori and Brian, went along with me for this one – we all finished, we were close to last, BUT I did receive a medal for being first in my age division! That’s a great thing about moving up in divisions – the older you get, the fewer competitors there are!
April 24 was a favorite – Noah’s Bandaid 5K, raising funds for childhood cancer research. Rained out again this year – so I did a virtual in a local park. Next was the Heritage Park 5K, on May 7. I had my sights set on another age division award. I’ve won two in the past, so this should be a shoe-in, but alas, it was not to be. The race has become quite popular in the last few years and the number of competitors increased, so way more competition in my age group.
May 14 was Crossroads School Fundraiser 5K at a favorite spot north of town. This one wasn’t timed, no shirt, no medal, race day wasn’t organized very well, and it appeared to be the first time anyone associated with it had ever, well – organized anything to do with a 5K race. My usual 5K companion and I saw how the course was laid out, so we set our trackers and just started. The rest of the field started late, so we finished about 30 minutes ahead of the others and went to get coffee.
June 19 was two special days – it would have been my dad’s 103rd birthday, and it was Father’s Day so we did the Superhero 5K. My dad was certainly a superhero to me. He passed from death to life in 2015 when I was a MKE newbie. The MKE gave me the tools I needed to face the loss with strength and grace.
My 5K buddy loves new things and she loves wine, so I found the VanTill Winery 5K for June 25. It was outside a small town about an hour from home – but as with every race we’ve done at wineries, it was beautiful – and hilly! I did win an age division award for that one – again, because there were so few competitors in my division.
I was really excited for the Slugger 5K September 3, benefiting the KC Royals Charities. My son Dan and I have done that together several times, sometimes with his older brother joining, and this year, Dan asked if we could do it with his fiancee, and their 11 month old son. He wanted to start a family tradition! Of course, I said yes, but it wasn’t to be. The night before, Maddox was running a temperature and they felt it best not to do the race. It was a disappointment, but hopefully next year we can do it. I put in the miles as a virtual in a local park, so race # 8 was in the books.
My friend loved the shirt for the Mama Strong 5K – which was only a virtual, so we did that later in September in the same beautiful park. It’s a great time to get together with her to catch up on all the goings on in our lives. We love the Graveyard 5K and our friend, Brian joined us again. This is a fundraiser for a historic cemetery in Kansas City.
Lori, Brian, and I the Veteran’s Day 5K. Brian is an Air Force veteran, as is Lori’s husband Darin. Maybe he will join us next year! Then – on November 24, the annual Thanksgiving Day 5K. Due to unforeseen circumstance, I wasn’t able to attend in person at the scheduled time, so I did the 3.1 miles in my neighborhood early in the morning! Then, of course, pie!
Every year we love doing the Candy Cane 5K, this year on December 17. It’s one of my favorites because of the cool hoodie and medal. Yes – we look at the swag, in addition to the course map, elevation (read = hills) and location to determine which races we will participate in.
It was around 15 degrees Fahrenheit with 20-30 mile per hour north winds, so we decided to go virtual – there are no medals for martyrs in racing. I’ve already done ice, snow, freezing rain, heat and rain. Don’t have anything to prove!
We got all the steps in going to breakfast and last-minute shopping! Our usual 5K takes about 8000 steps. Today, the tracker registered over 10,000 steps for the day, so we decided it counts as the race!
I love looking back over the previous year at what I accomplished. What are you reminiscing about as we look forward to 2023?
cool Post!
Thanks – I learned a lot doing this post – I need to be writing it all year through, so after the last race of the year, it will be short and easy to finish! Thanks for stopping by!
inspired me to include a lunar monthly run this year round – thanks Nancy O !
Nice! It’s always good to inspire others. 🙂