Cough Cough & Helpcare 5K

I foolishly signed up for the Helpcare 5k two days before I became deathly ill. Was it H1N1? Bronchitis? Seasonal flu? Run-o-the-mill cold? The jury is still out, but I am still hacking and my head is stuck somewhere in a cloud.

I couldn't let $15 go to waste, so after NOT running for three days in a row I decided to gut it out and run in this race. I was excited that it was only a 5K, and I figured I could probably still place well since it was a local small race. The race was sponsored by Tehition Noni and a security company and the proceeds went to a lhealth care center that supports local residents without health care. When the volunteers handed me my number and swag bag I looked at them in disbelief. Just for entering I got a nice windbreaker, an electronic lock box, a mace key chain, a thermometer, a tape measure, Noni chews, $5 gift card to a spa, manicure kit, oh and of course a token T-shirt. Like I said, I was speechless.

The race wasn't spectacular, about a minute off my 2009 PR of 19 flat, but I came in first. When I saw 20:00 on my watch I wasn't too disappointed, but it would have been nice if I could have pushed my body even one second faster. I was worried before I even started that I would not be able to even finish so I really need to get over it and be happy that I was able cross the finish line.

They were a little - er a lot - disorganized at the end and the poor volunteers could not figure out how to print off the results so they told us they would mail us our prize. The girl that got second place was from Cedar City and she did not want to leave without her prize so I stuck around with her. They ended up giving us both gift certificates & a medal and said they would mail the rest. So for $15 I got a ton of random things, plus dinner for two at Tucanos. Not bad for 20 minutes of hard work.

I think these pictures prove just how yucky I was feeling during and after the race.