Act 2; Scene 44: In which Robert beats a lifetime 5K record

Yes, it's true, Robert had an incredible race this past Friday. He has been training for a few months for the Ancestry.com 5K fun run wellness event. His goal: to beat anyone else in the finance department.

But I'm actually going to tell you about the event from my point of view.

It starts off with the one mile fun run, "for children of all ages." I figured that 36 1/2 weeks and 24 1/2 years counted as "children of all ages," so I decided to walk the one mile fun run. And it was delightful. I had fun chatting with Robert's co worker and his family (incidentally, his wife used to be my babysitter back home--small world!). We braved the racing and tripping five-year-olds, as well as the giant sprinklers that kept popping up on our path. We finished just over the 15 minute mark. And this time, I was NOT the last one in. :-)

Us finishing the fun run with Alan cheering through the finish line, towing his two children behind him in a plastic wagon.

Next Robert and I headed to the start of the 5K race. Robert took time to navigate through his iPod to make sure he had enough "pump-up" music ready to go (note--Robert listens to Disturbed to get pumped up for a race--I listen to Broadway. Same diff)

I pushed Robert to the front of the group so that he could definitely start before any other finance people. Soon after, the alarm sounded and the first wave took off--Robert right in the front. All of us on the sideline cheered.

Once he was out of sight, I  bee lined it to the ladies room. I hadn't visited it, after all, since before the Fun Run about a half hour ago.

Next I bee lined to the snack table. Water bottles, granola bars, fruit snacks and apples--sweet! After collecting my hoard I thought I would maybe get my face painted or try out the fish pond. I did have about 20 minutes left before I needed to be at the 5K finish line with the camera handy. I opted instead to sit down and enjoy a granola bar and a few grapes before deciding on any other activity.

While I was enjoying said granola bar and chatting with Angie Mangum (formerly Johnson) from the New Phila ward, I saw a runner with bright red shoes coming in towards the 5K finish line. That's strange, I thought, checking my watch to see that it was only 9:38--8 minutes after the 5K had begun. Angie and I began speculating about what he was doing. Did he start early? Did he just happen to be out for a jog and came this way? Did he decide to do a short cut?

About 9:39, a few other runners started coming in. Those of us (there were not many, at this time) near the finish line all turned our heads at each other with confused faces. 9 minutes? What's happening? The runners seemed a little befuddled that no one was there to greet them.

Behind them came some more runners toward the finish line. By now, there was some attention gathering, and people were murmuring and watching the finish line. The runners started sprinting when they saw the finish line--at 9:40. After crossing the finish line, confusion was had all around as everyone checked their watches and phones and scratched their heads.

But there was no denying it by this point--runners were pouring in. A small audience started gathering, as befuddled as they were. Although most people were still standing in line so their children's faces could get painted.

The best part of watching this confusion while eating my granola bar were the buff ancestry guys coming in from the run, checking their watches multiple times as they neared the finish line. Then, about 9:42, Robert rounded the corner and sprinted toward the finish line. Now, I had been planning on being up at the finish line cheering, with the camera ready at this point. However, the past few minutes had caught all of us so off guard, that no one was yet gathered right at the line, and I didn't even have my camera out yet. Basically, Robert ran the 5K so fast that I didn't even get a picture of the big finish ;-).

12 minutes--WOW! That is pretty amazing, Robert! In fact, it's almost better than the world record for a 5K! Much consorting of the ancestry guys unveiled the secret of the success. Apparently there was a very confusing and not well-marked turn just under a mile into the run. This led the runners up over the hill and down to the finish line--in appx. 1.8 miles rather than 3.1. Oops. Only about 1/4 or less of the runners that initially started the 5K went the "right" way. Everyone else ended up with INCREDIBLE times.

And that is the story of how Robert ran the fastest 5K ever, at just over 12 minutes. Too bad one finance guy came in at about 11 minutes. So close, Robert!

It was pretty awesome. Fortunately, 12 minutes is a pretty rocking time for almost 2 miles anyway. We came away with a good laugh, a pat on the back and a shake of the head.

We then celebrated the success by standing in line for about 45 minutes to get a balloon animal shaped like a dinosaur for myself.

Hope you all had a great Friday morning carnival, too!