I am so thrilled right now, it is hard to contain my excitement. But you’ll have to wait a few paragraphs to find out why. 😉
Tonight I ran in bestie Jenn’s place for the Neon Bubble Dash 5k. She had registered under a Living Social deal and then ended up being out of town, so I swooped in and ran her registration instead. The people over at the race headquarters were pretty awesome about it. I provided them with her registration, informed them that I would be running in her place, and they gave me a code to register on their site so I could sign the waiver and run under my name (which ended up not mattering since it wasn’t timed, but I digress…). I did have to pay a $2.50 processing fee (which apparently everyone who signed up had to pay, even if they had the Living Social deal) but that was fine with me. I thought it was super awesome that they let me do this when most runs are non-refundable, non-transferable, blah, blah blah. I am certain it was only because of the lack of timing chips, but anytime a company is accommodating I am impressed and they deserve kudos.
The run came with a neon t-shirt (two to choose from for men and women, so 4 colors total – I got pink and it ended up being a little small) and the shirts were actually MEN’S AND WOMEN’S shirts too – none of that unisex BS I usually have to deal with. Not to mention, they were actually really nice tees, not your standard Hanes Beefy Tee or Gildan Tee (I have SOOOO many of those…). The run also came with two neon glow bracelets, two neon glow necklaces, and some little finger lights (which I didn’t wear but which will make for awesome raves with the dogs, LOL). OH, and packet pickup was a Road Runner Sports the same day as their gently used shoe sale (awesome – Z scored a new pair of Nike running shoes for cheaps) AND anyone who was a VIP member got an additional 10% off, making the discount 20% (so he got his shoes for super cheaps).
Z took me to the race (he got out of this one). While we waited for it to be time to line up, someone spotted him wearing a Spartan Race tee and we struck up a conversation about runs. I was busy doing something (don’t remember what) when the guy walked up so I actually thought Z knew the guy – he runs into people he knows EVERYWHERE (like at the mall last night when he ran into a former co-worker). Strangers don’t strike up conversations with him often unless he’s wearing one of his awesome geek tees like his Dragon Ball Z training shirt, so it was cool.
I ran with my friend E from the gym, her husband and her daughter. Well, we ran the same race anyway. I met them at the start line where we all started growing impatient as they tried to ramp up our enthusiasm for the promo video while simultaneously holding us back from starting. We were a full 20 minutes late. Yes, the sun had not fully gone down yet and it was a neon run, but those of us who registered for the 6:30 wave pretty much expected this since it’s getting darker later and later. We nudged our way all the way to the front because E’s daughter had a show to catch and needed to start or be late, and we crossed the start line a few moments before they go to “one” on the countdown.
I held the front of the run for at least a minute. As in, I was the first person out there. I knew it wouldn’t last but it felt so AWESOME to be that far ahead for so long without anyone catching up. Spartan guy eventually passed me, but I expected that since his crazy ass is going straight from Spartan Sprint to Spartan Beast. I actually saw him on course switchbacks a few times, so I felt like I was running pretty quick (and Z later told me he was 2nd over the finish line).
The race itself was entirely contained on the Hamilton High School campus. There were lots of grass field and parking lot switchbacks, but it wasn’t too bad. There was plenty of foam at the start line, and a reasonable amount at each foam & blacklight station/chamber, but I think that running alone and so far ahead made it a tad less exciting (not that it mattered much to me). That, and I couldn’t hear their music (if they were playing any). There was only one water station, but finding out after the fact that the run was short a quarter of  a mile of a 5k that seems reasonable. I busted out the gazelle when I realized I was rounding the corner for the final stretch (ask Jenn about that one). It helped that my “power song” Empire State of Mind had just come on – that always riles me up (NY4Eva).
I finished in exactly 23 minutes.Â
You can imagine how ELATED I was at this. At first, I wasn’t even doing the math right (because I am bad at math and I was out of breath) and was thinking it was around 33 minutes, which for me would still be an excellent time and worth being excited about. But Z corrected me, and we were later approached by a race coordinator for our feedback and I got the correct distance from him (I knew it seemed too good to be true, but it was still incredible). We waited for E and her crew after that to cheer them across the finish line. He daughter was already gone – she ran ahead to catch her show. E and her husband seemed to have a good time getting bubbly, especially since it was her husband’s first run.
I was and remain very impressed that someone connected to the event took the time to ask runners for their feedback. We ran a neon run last year which while it was my FIRST record for best time, was also the most poorly coordinated debacle of any run I have run so far in the last five years. E and I provided the following feedback and it was well received (he took notes people! I would run this again just for THAT!):
- Refer to the Farmer’s Almanac to determine sunset times so that the first wave can start on time
- Narrower bubble “chambers” with more bubbles
- More black lights the length of the bubble chamber
- More volunteers to provide enthusiasm and encouragement
- Louder (or any) music
- And a race that is the length runners are told
Overall, the run itself needs a bit of improvement, but I would do it again. And if I keep up at this rate, running the Ragnar Trail Relay in November won’t seem so scary (did I not mention I was doing that? I am INSANE). p.s. I am not confident I could match that time in a longer run, but knowing I’ve done it once will certainly motivate me to try.
Anyway, the Neon Bubble Dash is going to be in a handful of cities its inaugural year. Check out their website if you’re interested in participating!
For those of you who don’t get the crazy post title, I submit for your review, the history of “doge” and some original doge.
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