May 3, 2013
Indianapolis 500 5K
My son has been urging me to do a big 5K for about a year so I thought this would be a great opportunity. This became a family affair. My husband and I ran the 5K while my son ran the mini. What fun! And it was big! The 5K had 4,000 runners and the mini had 35,000 runners (biggest mini in the country).
With 39,000 runners coming to Indianapolis, we figured that parking would be an issue. Rather than leave home at 3:30 am to find a parking space and be at the start line by 6:30 am for a 7:00 am start, we decided to get hotel rooms. We took Friday off work and made a mini-vacation out of it. Thinking that the restaurants would be packed, I brought spaghetti in a crock pot and we enjoyed a carb load early Friday evening before the race. Lots of fun!
Picking up our race packet was fun! When they went to give me my 2X t-shirt, the volunteer said, "Honey, you're not a 2X. Do you want a smaller size?" Bless her! Sure enough, the 2X was too big! In addition to the booth where packets were being distributed, there was a large expo with all kinds of vendors selling their wares. I purchased a really cool little pouch that attaches to your waistband with magnets to carry an iPhone and keys in.
Security at the event was amazing. The bombings at the Boston Marathon were two weeks early so everyone was nervous. They sent all the participants an email that told us to leave backpacks at home. On the day of the race, there were city police, state police and national guard members everywhere. There were also big booms in the air with cameras watching the crowd. I also noticed that there were security people with vests on seated by each trash can. But, the Boston Marathon bombers did not deter the festive spirit of the crowd. What impressed me the most about the crowd of 39,000 runners on race day was how happy everyone was.
The 5K runners lined up first at the starting line with the mini runners right behind us. So, when you looked back all you could see forever into the distance was 39,000 shoulder-to-shoulder runners in brightly colored t-shirts. Toward the start of the race, they all started jumping up and down to warm up and all you could see were bobbing colors. It was really quite amazing.
Someone sang Back Home Again in Indiana, shot a starters gun, and in typical Indianapolis 500 style, waved a green flag to begin the race. We were off! 4,000 people all with personal goals running in harmony with one another. Once again, I found myself choked up with emotion as I passed the start line and started running up Washington Street.
There was entertainment and people cheering throughout the miles. And . . . there were professional photographers everywhere. After the race, a computer sorted all the photographs by bib number and the photos were posted online to be purchased. My race went as planned. I went out a little faster than in the past but was able to maintain the pace I wanted to run. I took 20 seconds off my fastest pace and finished in under 45 minutes which was a first for me. Maybe most amazing, I finished in the top third of the 55-59 female age group. I think that is more due to the fact that the Indy 500 5K brings out a lot of non-athletes, but it was nice to not be dead last again!
At the end of the race, they corralled us away from the finish line and to various booths. The first booth we encountered was a station where they gave us a race medal - my first! I wore it with pride for the rest of the day, as did everyone else. Then we received a grocery bag and we went from station to station collecting food goodies - cookies, protein bars, fruit, drinks. It was a little like going door to door on Halloween. So many volunteers, so much kindness, so much celebration. Again, I got a little choked up thinking about how nice people can be.
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