Race Report: St. Peter Halloween 5K Fun Run & Walk

 This morning I got up bright and early to meet up with some women from my running group to run the Saint Peter Halloween Fun Run.  M. and Bailey and I rode over to St. Peter separately.  M. and a friend of ours were planning to meet up to watch the race together.  M. stayed outside with Bailey, while I went into the community center to pick up my bib, chip, and swag.  Then I headed out to chat with M. while waiting for my friends to arrive.  I had no trouble finding my friend A. in her Lady Gaga costume which was lucky because my unoriginal cat costume made me hard to spot amidst the many other black cats who had shown up to run the 5K. 

We lined up with the other 1000+ runners and waited for the race to begin.  It was a chilly but sunny day.  For the end of October in the upper midwest, we couldn't have asked for better running weather.  Some runners had donned tremendously creative costumes.   The music was pumping at the starting line.  The energy was just incredible.  ( Thanks to M. for snapping some pictures of the race from the sidelines!) 

 The course was more or less a quick out and back with a couple of challenging inclines and declines.  We weren't worried about pace, so we just went out and enjoyed the atmosphere and the costumes.  We ran the first mile in 9:40.  I didn't bring my Garmin because I had intended this to be a social run rather than a race for time, but I know this because there were volunteers at the mile markers clocking people and yelling out the times as we ran by.  The second mile was a bit tougher as there were a couple of hills, but we hit the mile 2 marker at 20:15.  Just before mile 3 M. spotted us on the home stretch and snapped a few action shots.   This one's my favorite.

I'm not sure my official time, but when I passed the 3rd mile marker, I heard a volunteer say 29:00, so I assume I finished in about 30 minutes.  I was pleased that my whiskers held up as well as they did!

My friends and I had a great time running this 5k!  This race has grown over from a few hundred runners just two years ago to quite the event.  I can only imagine that it will gain in popularity because it's for a good cause, it's well-organized, and the energy is fantastic!  It was definitely a fun way to begin my Halloween weekend and a great excuse to don a costume!

What plans do you have for this Halloween weekend?  Are you taking the kids trick-or-treating?  Going to a costume party? Running a race?