Bottomline Technologies Race for a Cause 5k Recap, and Weekend Fun!

Before the start!

This Saturday was the Bottomline Technologies Race for a Cause (5k.)  I had really been looking forward to the race as I had been involved with some of the race planning since last February; also, I work for Bottomline Technologies and I really liked that all of the profits earned from the race were going to the "End 68 Hours of Hunger" charity .  If you aren't familiar with this charity, check them out!

  Leading up to the 5k, I wasn't sure what to expect; I knew the course was super flat and fast, but wasn't sure how I was going to feel a week after Reach the Beach.  Also, I had 14 miles scheduled for Saturday, and knew that I would need to make up the remaining mileage after the 5k.  Overall, I really wanted to see 23 on the clock for my finishing time, but would be ecstatic to see something with 22 instead. 

    The day of the race, I set my alarm for 6:15am as I had agreed to be at Bottomline at 7am to help out with different volunteer duties.  At 8:15am, I was able to relieve my volunteer duties so that I could warm-up and change clothes.  Almost all of my running friends that I run with at lunch were doing the race, we all had different goals (mine the slowest!), so I was glad that I would be able to warm-up/cool-down and start the race with everyone, and that they'd be waiting for me at the finish!

   At 9am, the organizer from End 68 Hours of Hunger said a few words, as did our CEO.

By 9:10am, everyone who was running/walking (around 210 people), lined up on the street outside of Bottomline to begin the race.  I tried not to line up in the direct front, and figured I would do better in the second row.  Right after 9:10am the announcer sent us off!  I made sure to not start off too fast, but fast enough that I was below a 7:30 minute pace.   I saw my friends Karla, Laurie, Justin and Richard effortlessly move to the front of the pack, but I held myself back again so I wouldn't lose steam.  The 1st mile marker was right on a gradual hill: 7:20.  I ran past a water stop (thank you cooler weather!) and was glad that the beginning of the 2nd mile was a gradual down hill.  I could still see my friends way up front. The 2nd mile marker was also at a water stop (7:10.)  For the last mile, I knew that the course was super flat, and I could try to pick up the pace.  I was able to speed up my pace a bit, but had some trouble with my breathing around 2.75 miles.  I slowed down slightly, and as I came around the corner towards the finish, I saw my friend Laurie cheering! I  really was tired, but when I saw the finish line and saw a 22:xx in the distance, I knew I would have to sprint the last bit to get under 23 minutes.  I made it by 3 seconds- 22:57!! A 12 second PR (23:09!)

    Karla (even with a nasty injury), still won our age group with 22 minutes; Laurie won her age group with 20:10, Justin did 21 minutes and Richard did 20:20! My new friend Lucy who I met through Karla, got 3rd overall (both male and female) and first female.  She also won a new iPad mini!

Afterwards,  Lucy, Megan, Laurie, Karla and I did around a 2 mile cool down.  I had 1/2 a bagel and a mini smoothie from the Juicery.  Since I had done a little over 3 miles from the warm-up and cool down + a 5k, I had only planned on doing 8 miles for distance.  Justin, Richard and Megan agreed to run with me at least part of the way to keep me company.  I put on my Saucony Ride's (which is my new favorite shoe), and refilled my water bottle.  Since I was only doing 8 miles, I didn't think that I would need to bring Gu.  We all headed out with the intention of running on a new bike path that goes from the Pease Tradeport into Newington, I figured at the 4 mile marker, I would turn around and head back to Bottomline.  Justin was able to run with us for 1.5 miles, Meg ran with us for 3 miles and Richard stayed on to run with me the whole way.  Thank goodness because I had no idea where I was, didn't have my headphones to listen to music, and was grateful to have company!  At the 4 mile marker, I was feeling pretty good, and Richard suggested that we just keep running as eventually, we could do a long(er) loop that would lead us back to the Pease Tradeport.  At the 6 mile marker, I was starting to feel hungry and tired, Richard saved the day again because he had extra Gu!  I had a tri-berry flavored Gu which wasn't as good as the salted caramel ones, but was pretty close.  I felt a lot better, and by the time we completed the loop, we were up to almost 11 miles!

   I was definitely tired, but had to rush home because Neil and I were going to a friend's wedding that was starting at 4pm (and it was already 12:30!)
  I drove home, ate lunch, hopped in the shower, packed a bag, we drove to Portsmouth, checked into our hotel room, I had ten minutes to do my hair/make-up and get dressed, and then we had to run back downstairs to catch a shuttle to the wedding location.   The entire wedding was so gorgeous and so much fun!  I must have had some super strong coffee yesterday because I danced at the reception for two hours!  In true hardcore fashion however, I hit a wall at 930pm, and ended up being asleep and in bed by 1030!

UNH friends- love them so much!

We were Table 10!

I'm not a great photographer, I cannot capture how gorgeous the bride and groom looked, or how pretty the wedding site was!- congratulations Erika and Mike!!