Ran another 5k with the double jogging stroller this morning – it was a local raise run by the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club, which raises tons of money for charities.
Greg and I both were encouraged by so many of the women we know in Juniors to run, so we signed up in spite of having already paid to run the Newton 10k that morning. It’s always fun to go to a race where you’ll know people, and I love community events that raise money for charity!
It was a beautiful morning and a great race… the course was scenic, and despite its rolling hills, I came in even faster by a few seconds than my last double jogging stroller race (only two weeks ago). My time was 29:25 🙂 Every race I’ve run since I became vegan in October has been a PR.
Greg, my amazingly fast and awesome husband, came in 5th overall with a time of 20:13. He might have broken 20 if the runners hadn’t been misdirected by a police officer and taken a wrong turn in the beginning of the race. Umm… whoops. As it is, I feel PRETTY AWESOME being the wife of a guy who comes in top five. I’ll be chasing him for the rest of my life… with a giant smile on my face 🙂
The only downside of the race was that I found out five minutes before the start time that jogging strollers weren’t technically allowed – race directors have to take out an additional insurance policy to allow running strollers (which I didn’t realize). I had asked a race volunteer before registering and been told “all are welcome!” but apparently they even said no running strollers in the race waiver I signed when I registered online. You know those little paragraphs with the small font that you just presume are health disclaimers? Yeah, they may have important information in them. So don’t have a couple glasses of wine at an event and come home and register for a race without reading that little paragraph… especially if you’re doing something out of the norm like pushing a running stroller or wearing a costume.
The race volunteer who informed me was super nice and let me start in the back…. where there were about five other strollers also running, who presumably ALSO don’t read the fine print when they sign up for a race.
I don’t mind starting in the back time wise, but I felt awful running by so many people who were walking, and it’s not as safe starting at the back and passing half the participants because beginning runners will sometimes stop right in front of you and start walking, and I had to veer around a couple people.
As I was veering (which was only in the first half mile, then it opened up and I just ran on the outside and it was very safe) I could see why a race might not allow running strollers, and felt even worse for not getting a babysitter!
In the future, I will read those waivers carefully, and I will make sure I sign up for races where strollers are welcome, or get a babysitter.
Still, the boys LOVED racing with me, and I loved that I had the chance to prove to myself that I really can run a 5k in under 30 minutes pushing the double jogging stroller… it wasn’t just a fluke, this is me. I’m a runner.
There were over 282 runners – that’s a lot of money for charity! Congrats to the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club on a great event. It takes a lot of work and organization to direct a race, and these women had multiple water stops, great food at the finish line, awesome music, and a beautiful course. Plus they were gracious enough to let me run 🙂
Looking forward to running it again next year! Sans the kiddos, of course 🙂
