Run for Haiti 5K and (I signed up for WHAT?!?!?)

I have wanted to do this race for about three years now, but it always seems to fall on a weekend where we had something else going on.  This year when I realized that we had a free weekend, we signed up to Run for Haiti.  The race is advertised as "Use your love of running to help a mother, a child, a family live a better live.  Run the 5K and you'll provide monetary aid to Project Haiti and Global Haitian Advancement Through Education and Sports."  Totally up my alley!  Moise Joseph, an Olympic athlete from Haiti, established the race following the devastating Haitian earthquake in 2010 to raise money.  So I was super excited to do this.  The boys were excited because they were going to get to see an Olympic runner and Bershawn Jackson (2008 Olympic bronze medalist in hurdles) was the starter.  He even ran some of the race near Zach so that was cool for him to experience.  The race is smaller than some PR races and uses the same course as Run Your Heart Out and Run for Dad. 

Awesome Haitian artwork that were the awards!

We got there, picked up our stuff, warmed up for about a mile, did some strides, and were ready to go.  It was a bit chilly and windy, but I knew it was going to be a nice run.  Nic was looking to improve on this course since his best time on this course previously was a 33:01 at Run with Dad. I was pacing him so we started out at a nice pace and ran well in the first mile.  We finished the first mile right around 10 minutes.  Then we stayed about the same pace through the second mile.  He was running really well, and we were having a ton of fun on the trail.  We hit mile 2, and we knew the hilly section was coming up.  I told him that he was on pace to PR the course if he could just keep a steady pace.  I was so proud of how he responded.  He saw that last big hill which reduces a lot of adults to a walking pace, and he just took off and powered up the hill.

Mommy is so proud!

Once we finished the hill, we were at the track, and he took off on me.  It took me some time to get my leg speed up so that I could catch him.  I finally caught up to him right on the track straightaway.  He had a really strong finishing kick and passed a ton of people at the end to get almost a 3 minute course personal best and finish with a 30:11 (9:44 average pace).

We got our usual post race Starbucks treats, and then we rushed home for Oil Creek 100 registration day.  I decided to throw my hat in the ring for the 100K this year so I am now signed up for OC 100K in early October as well as MegaTransect the weekend before plus Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October.  Ummmm....yeah so we'll see what happens there.  I may end up pacing JD again on the 100K and am also thinking about Pine Creek Challenge 100K which would be in September. Anyway, I have big plans for the fall, and I'm excited.

In Bull Run training news, legs feel great one week out from the marathon.  In fact a ran a personal best trail half marathon split on Thursday without really pushing too much so I'm feeling good about length strength but still pretty nervous about making the cut.

Next weekend..Reston Runners Marathon.