Yesterday, the 4th of July, my daughter and I went to a local Independence Day race. We went to Waterford, WI to run the River City Fourth Fest 5K. Just like to rest of the upper Midwest and East Coast, we are in the middle of a major heatwave/drought. We knew it was going to be hot, but even weather.com got it wrong on the low side for this one.
The race began at 8:00AM and it was sunny, hot, and humid already. By race time, it was already in the low 90's and super humid. My daughter had been looking forward to this race for awhile and we had already run in the heat so I was not worried that major disaster was going to happen, and it didn't. She also did not want to run with me so I was on my own in front of her.
I ran pretty slow for me as the heat was terrible out there. I ended up in a time of 22:41 and ready to take a break from all the races I had done in the last 4 1/2 weeks. After I was done, I walked the course back hoping to find Melissa as she finished. I finally saw her and she was able to pass a couple runners in the last 100 meters I saw her and finish in a time of 26:48. WOW! In that heat I thought that was amazing. She has run almost a minute faster for a 5K before but not in that oppressive heat and humidity. She was crying a little afterwards as she was hot and sore form the race so we walked away from everyone else until she could compose herself and that is when I heard the story.
Turns out that with about a quarter mile to go, she had to throw up. Did she stop? No, she kept running without missing a beat. And she ended up taking 3rd place in the 10 to 14 year old age group beating 2 14 year olds by 1 and 5 seconds. She was so proud accepting her award for 3rd place amongst the older and taller 14 and 13 year olds who also won awards. She was less that a minute from 1st and she wants it next year. I love her new attitude toward running, she is so competitive! Tough as Nails!
Even with my poor time, I ended up 3rd in my old guys division out of 17. So now Melissa and I have matching awards. Pretty cool.
Later that day, it got super hot. We saw a high of 107 on our way to the lakefront to enjoy a little Summerfest. Within 3 blocks of the lakefront, the temps finally dropped 15 degrees to 92 (Still hot). We got to enjoy about 3 hours of Summerfest with the kids before heading home to close to 100 temps again. It is still hot today, over 100, but I would take this over the winder cold any day, just not for running and racing.
Did you run an Independence Day race? How did it go for you and is it hot by you?
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