SUCCESS is wearing Blue in 2009!

That's right... I DID IT! I not only ran to Doomsday hill, I ran up Doomsday hill, hit the birds wing at the top AND THEN I ran straight through the rest of the race to the finish line! I did it in 1:22:07 equaling an average of 11 minute miles! I RAN THE WHOLE THING!!!

Mile 1-4 went well, mile 5 was medium and that is where Doomsday hill was so the anticipation was killing me, Doomsday hill was hard but not what I thoughts (the other two previous hills seemed much harder), then by about 5 3/4 mile, almost to mile 6 my knees started to lock up but then I only had 1.46 miles to go so I pushed on through. By mile 7 I was running like one of the older more "experienced" runners and I'm sure I looked about 40 years older with the way I was trottin along. There was a final corner and then a push down the hill towards the finish and I pushed it as hard as I could go! I HATE to run down hills because of my knees BUT I could resist and knew that I could just rest up for the next few days so I did it!

My "OFFICIAL" time (I decided to stop on the course to use the restroom which I will NOT do next time) was - drum roll please (this will be the first time I've seen it as well)...

Finish Time: 1:23:24!!!

Whoa, that's MUCH closer to my actual running time than I thought it would be due to my delay.

Here are my stats for the race:
Overall Place: 12,144 out of 44,490
Ran with a pace of 11:10 per mile
The average pace for 30-year-olds was 14:09
Placed 296th among 810 people the same age
Placed 490th among 2,707 people from Spokane Valley, WA
Placed 9,307th among 35,983 people from Washington
Placed 2nd among 6 people with the same last name
Placed 5,095th among 26,349 females
Placed 157th out of 532 among 30-year-old females

I say that's pretty good for a non running, broken knee, former rugby playin' 30 year old!

FAQ

Yes I was asked MANY questions about my experience and here are the most common

- YOU ran Bloomsday? Yes, what is that supposed to mean? RUDE!

- Did you finish? YES (damn it)

- How did you do? GOOD, better than I thought since I gave myself 1.5 hours

- Did you enjoy it? NO

- Did you run the whole way? YES (damn it)

- Did you run up Doomsday Hill? (see previous question DUH)

- How did you feel afterward? Exhausted! My lower half felt like I played a game and a half of rugby and my upper half was just tired OH and I STUNK SOOOOO BAD!

- How do you feel now (asked 3 hours later)? TIRED. Not only did I finish the race but then I had to walk up to my friend Jen's house which is approximately 1.2 miles from the finish line UP a progressive hill! I was tired, stinky, sweaty, and thirsty from the run and I had to walk all that way. When I got to my car, OH MAN, was I grateful to be there. I grabbed my water from my bag, my odwalla bar AND my banana and just sat there and consumed my post race meal.

- How do you feel today? Pretty good actually. Some minor aches in my R groin/hip area, my R knee (my surgically altered knee) both hip joint areas and then BOTH feet burn/hurt pretty bad (I just purchased my NEW pillow like running shoes yesterday that I probably should have ran in yesterday but now I will be set for my future summer miles).

- Will I do it next year? ... I am currently undecided. I didn't really enjoy the race and did it purely because I was dedicated to finish and so I can actually say I did it (and that this is the first Bloomsday Sunday I've had off from work). I know now that I can do it and I can run further than I ever thought I could JUST run (without being in a sporting event). My plan is to start running 2x/week - a 3 miler and a 5 miler and see how that goes. It will have to be a decision I make next year but I would LOVE it if my Dad joins me next year!

Oh and the tile of this post... ONLY FINISHERS get a t-shirt. The t-shirt is a huge deal in Spokane and they do not reveal it until you get to the finish line. It changes color and pattern each year and this year it is a light blue color. So a successful Kerri will be sporting blue this year!