katie's "cook your buns" race report: guest post

beachcombing, after the race!

wow, i am so incredibly happy (and proud) to post katie's race report - and on fathers day, no less! i couldn't ask for a better present!
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On Friday I ran the “cook your buns” 3 miler. I went with my dad and we ran together. On the car ride there we blasted the B-52s and got really psyched up. Instead of exit 5, we got off at exit 4 because Mrs. Stocker was going to meet us at the train station and take us a different way.

When we got to the beach, the kids race was starting. So Mrs. Stocker and her son, Ike, ran over and barely got in on time. On our walk over to the 3 miler my dad introduced me to a bunch of his friends. We also got to watch the kids finish their race. Once we were lined up, there was a very disorganized start. I didn’t hear any gun or horn. The only starting sound was the pounding of runners’ feet ahead of me.

For me, the hardest section was the first mile. During that mile my shoulders, hands, back, and stomach would not stop cramping. The second mile I liked best because it was mostly in the shade and we ran by all of the boats in their docks. The third, and final, mile was mainly on the beach and sandy areas. Since I don’t really like running on sand this part wasn’t that much fun.

When the stretch of beach was almost ending, I could start to hear the crowd cheering for the runners finishing. As I ran around the final turn, I saw the clock ticking: 27:50, 27:51, 27:52 … and I sprinted as hard as I could and finished in 28:00 even. I think this was one of my best times!

When I got out of the chute I went right over to the water table, where I found no more cups left - great! A few minutes later my dad and I were on line to get hamburgers and watermelon. When we finished getting our food, the table where our friends were sitting was all filled up. So we just plopped down on the grass behind them.

After we finished eating, it was time to cut Mrs. Stocker’s birthday cake. I had a slice and it was really good! Just as it was beginning to get dark, my dad and I decided to leave. Before we actually drove away, though, I went down to the beach to cool my feet. The ride back was okay. But as soon as I got home, I was really tired and needed a rest.