A little over a week ago, Laura and I traveled to Norfolk, Nebraska to see my family. We also signed up to run the Laugh-and-a-half with my mom and sister. My mom and sister ran the 5k, Laura ran the 1/2 marathon, and I ran the 10k.
It was cool to run a race in the town where I went to high school. The Laugh-and-a-half is a newer race, and so named because Norfolk is the hometown of Johnny Carson. Though the route is nothing special, mostly skirting the outskirts of Norfolk, there were several jokes posted along the course. Here's a sampling:
Did you hear about the race with the lettuce and tomato? The lettuce was a head and the tomato was trying to catch up.
What do you get if you run behind a car? Exhausted.
My mom said there were more jokes last year, but I still appreciated the jokes on the course.
My legs didn't have too much pop in them for this race, and I also had a bit of a cold. Early in the race four runners had a quick start, and I ran behind. About a mile in I caught up and passed one runner, but as the race progressed the first two runners were soon out-of-sight.
The third place runner was in view the entire race, and though at one point I felt like I was closing in on him, I never did catch up to him. It turned out that all the runners ahead of me were in the half marathon, so as a result of a noncompetitive field in the 10k, I took first place. It's all in who shows up I suppose.
My time in the race wasn't too hot, and I'm hoping that I'll make some major strides getting into good shape this summer. If I can keep the nagging injuries at bay, I feel like I'll have a good shot.
My mom had a great time and ran her fastest 5k to date. She won her age group and was excited that she finished before me (albeit running half as far). Laura had fun running the 1/2 marathon, and was happy with her finish.
