I Made My Acrophobic Hubby Walk over the Bridge of Lions - Bridge of Lions 5k

I saw a post on Facebook last year of a local NewsRadio guy completing this race and it looked interesting.  Plus – I hate to say – if he could do it, I could certainly do it!  It’s a small 5k, in St. Augustine.  Signing up for ANY race in the middle of July is a death wish, but I thought it would be fun. Plus, it had a medal!

So, hubby and I (the Kiddo stayed home for this one) left home around 4am and (after a stop at the local convenience store for some caffeine) drove to St. Augustine. As usual, it was a pretty boring drive, but we got there pretty early, so that was good.  

I LOVE that Circle K uses styrofoam cups - it DOES stay colder longer, but more importantly, no sweat!

 I hit up the potties, then went over to packet pickup. 

A Shelf (which I'll never trust again) and some Hand Sanitizer inside the Pottie

A bag hook (better than a shelf) inside the Pottie

 The line was pretty short, so I was able to get my bag pretty quickly. 

Packet Pickup - maybe 10 people in line at 6:30am

Tee (it's one of those cotton but tech type of shirts)

Very empty starting line with the Fort and the bay in the background

I came back to the car to chill for a bit, since the race didn’t start for another hour. Generally, when I’m at a race with Hubby, I don’t wander nearly as much. He doesn’t like races, he hates runners, and he only comes to cheer me on.  We just sat and people-watched from the car. 

  

At around 7:30, I made my way to the start line and Hubby went to the other end of the start line. The crowd was bigger than I expected, so there was a pretty good chance I wouldn’t be anywhere near last, which is always a plus. 

The Start Line is in the center of the frame, above the grey tank girl's head

Lots of people behind me

Check it out, it's Betty!

This course was a point-to-point course, rather than a loop or an out-and-back. For non-runners, this means you start at Point A (Castillo de San Marcos) and run to Point B (the park we finished in).  Most races start and finish in generally the same place, so this was new for me. I’d spent some time looking over the map so I knew what to expect, and never thought to show it to Hubby! 

At 8am, we took off, and we went down the main drag of St. Augustine, right in front of the water, before turning and crossing the Bridge of Lions (hence the Bridge of Lions 5k).  

Not the best photo, but I'm behind #697

Ascending the Bridge of Lions (headed towards St. Augustine Beach)

Once all the runners left, the spectators who wished to see their family finish ALSO had to cross the bridge. Hubby is afraid of heights and bridges. He had to cross a bridge to see me finish. Sad to say, I didn’t take that into consideration when signing up for the race, but since it was a 5k, I didn’t think he was going to come. So, in a purely illogical, logical way – it’s his own fault.

Anyway, after crossing the bridge, all the runners divert into the neighborhood nearby. The finish line was a straight shot from the bridge, according to the map. Well, Hubby asked a few people where the finish line was, and some dude with a camera offered to take him there, saying “I’m walking that way, too!” So, you would think that would be a smart idea, right? Wrong.  We still don’t know where that guy was ACTUALLY going, but it wasn’t the finish line. Hubby ended up ON the course somehow!

Almost to Mile 1

Right after Mile 1 (and a direly-needed water stop), I saw a familiar ponytail up near a barricade.  He was talking to one of the policemen, trying to figure out where he needed to go to find the finish line!

He doesn't look like a runner!

I said something snarky (can’t remember what) and kept on. 

The houses in this neighborhood are gorgeous, and soon we were running near the bay. 

Gotta wonder the cost of this house, it's GORGEOUS!

Running along the bay

Before we got to Mile 2, there was a second water stop, and it was within steps of the finish line. I hate when races go by the finish line… It’s discouraging to hear everyone already finishing and partying (and LEAVING) while my fat ass still has a mile (or whatever) to trudge.  Hubby got a fun photo of my watering myself though.

It's so humid, doing this doesn't help very much

You can't tell, but EVERYTHING is soaked with sweat

After passing Mile 2, the neighborhood was more old school, with some apartment buildings thrown in. They reminded me of the neighborhood I grew up in. 

 

Mile 2! Only 1 to go

Finally, though, I finished with an official time of 49:36.  Still haven’t beaten my PR time, but with a pace time of under 15 minutes, I can be happy.

I finished, and I wasn't last. It's all I ever ask for.

You can view the official finish line video here – I come in around 35 minutes. 

I finished 66^th out of 75 in my age group and beat 100 people, coming in 1014 out of 1104! The final finisher came in at 1:05:15.

I received my medal and the best prize of all – a Ziploc bag of ice!  I shoved it in my bra, so it could be as close to my chest as possible, then went to find hubby.  He told me all about his adventure and getting lost, as well as how he was so proud to have crossed the bridge.

 

No, that's not a nipple, it's an earbud... Pervert.

We made our way back to the bridge and snapped a pic on the St. Augustine Beach side of the bridge. Then, after a slow crossing, took a snap on the Historic side of the bridge.

The finish line was a few 100 yards behind me

Historic Lion

The Bridge of Lions

We headed back to the car (which we’d been able to park for free that morning) and dropped in a few bucks to get a parking voucher, then walked over to the Visitor’s Center so I could change my clothes.

After changing, we had planned on wandering around Historic Old St. Augustine, but so many places didn’t even open until 11!  So, most of the time, we were just walking past closed shops. We were able to get some fudge and candy at Savannah Sweets to take home, but after that we just gave up. We walked back to the car, ended up at Sonic for lunch, then just drove home.

Location: St Augustine FL

Host: (Who put on the race) RaceSmith, Inc

Race Fee: $25 + $2.50 Fee

Packet Pickup: One table, maybe 5 people?  I got there early, so not a hassle

Parking: FREE parking at Castillo de San Marcos before 10am (must pay after that)

Support: (on-course):  Two water stops, no food or sports drink

After Party: A few tents, baggies of ice, we didn't stay

Strap Those Melons Down! Melon Run 2015 Race Report

As has become a tradition for me, I ran the Melon Run today.  Yes, a race in July in this heat in Florida.  Yes, I am crazy.  

Anyway, this time around, I wasn't really feelin' it, because they had to change the course.  Generally, the course is a large loop around a local park. But due to some pretty extensive roadwork on part of the course, they had to modify the course. Now we would be doing a much smaller 2-loop course.  I've run this course before, and it's a nice course, but not the Melon Run course that I wanted to PR.
  

"Chute," not "Shoot"

But, I got up early and headed over to the park anyway.  My camera didn't charge overnight (I hate this stoopid camera...), so all I had was my cell phone, so, congratulations, you get very few, but very sucky photos.  

I did luck out and get a pretty good parking spot, right along the race route, shortly past the start line. At least that's a bonus. 

The start line was moved forward a bit, so a lot of people were stuck hovering around a large traffic circle before the race began. 

I can see the hill from here

There was a lady walking through the crowd near me asking people if they were going to walk, because she wanted to be near a group about her speed. I told her that I planned to walk most of it, so she stuck near me at the start line.  Another lady mentioned that she did intervals as well, so we became a group. Turns out, she had come down from New Jersey (I think it was NJ) to visit her dad in the hospital and wanted to go out for a run that morning, and just happened to hear about the race and signed up that morning. 

Jersey Girl in the house

After the National Anthem (not me this year!), we took off, to the worst part of the course (no matter the year): the uphill behind the school. I don't run back here a lot (especially due to that aforementioned roadwork), so I always forget about that damn hill! And becuase of the course layout, I was going to have to do that hill TWICE!  Grrr. 

I got passed by the front runners I think before I even made it through Mile 1.  (There's no mile markers on that map up there but this is the front of the park, called Westside Tennis Courts).

Go Speed Racer!

I took a bunch of photos in the "neighborhood" part of the course, but none of them came out. I like the neighborhood because of the eclectic mix of fancy houses, but I wouldn't want to live back there. Probably really expensive, due to the neighborhood's proximity to the city's most popular park. 

Fast people on the left; turtles on the right

Coming out of the neighborhood, we started our second loop, heading BACK up that damn hill behind the school.  I passed Mile 2 at some point. 

The signage was small and hard to spot this time

Finally, though (really - I was so over this!), I made it out of the neighborhood again, and finished strong!  My official time was 50:06, which was pathetic as hell, even for me!!!  Yeah, it was hot. Yeah, it was a different course. Yeah, it was a pathetic time. I can own it.  I beat 20 people though, coming in 153rd out of 173 women, 291st out of 333 total finishers.  And I wasn't last in my age group, either - I was 13th out of 16.  Small beans, but any time I'm NOT LAST is a win for me. 

Afterwards, I stuck around for a bit, but the awards were taking forever, so I just took a quick selfie and got out of there. It is way hot and I'd like to go home and enjoy my day off.

Maybe next year I'll check out the Celebration Run in Jacksonville. Results from that race show that I could have beat over 100 other runners with this Melon Run time, plus I would have gotten a MEDAL! Same cost ($20) too! I guess it depends on whether not Hubby has to work that day...

Yep, still red in the face

A LOT of watermelons are given away as Age Group Awards

Mani shot! Red with blue/silver sparkles

Location: Gainesville, FL

Host: (Who put on the race) Florida Track Club

Race Fee: $25

Packet Pickup: Day of Race; picked up and was able to return to my car

Parking: Good for me (I got there early); can get hard closer to race time

Support: (on-course) Meh. Not a lot of spectators. Water only.

After Party: Awards, free watermelons