Another St. Patrick’s Day holiday has come and gone and so has the 6th Lucky Leprechaun 7K, personally the third for me. And I must say this was the best of all three so far, all thanks to the simple fact it was a sunny day! The two previous years it was temps in the 30s and rain/freezing drizzle; not ideal conditions at all. This year was still chilly temps, but so much more reasonable to deal with thanks to the sun.
The packet pickup was the day before and located at a local running store. All nice and easy there with giving my name and getting my bib and shirt. After checking out a few running shoes and other gear, I was on my way. Next up: race day the next morning.
I was running behind and parked quickly and easily on a side street near the starting point so no getting nervous about missing the start. I think that is one of the best aspects of this race; there is enough parking in the area that you don’t have to worry about being miles away and having to walk forever to get to the race. As I walked up attaching my bib with my new BibRave Bibboards, I could hear the DJ pumping out pre race music and the countdown to start being shouted out. Once to the start, I stretched all the necessary areas and moved up as the clocked ticked down. With no trains coming (the race crosses tracks right at the beginning), the gun went off and we all were off and running! I chose an easy but steady pace as I was moving around and through people. After a half mile, I found myself in a nice spot and in a nice running flow and stuck with it. The reward for doing so: passing more people and and setting myself up at a great pace. And the reward for that? Setting my 7K PR WITH this race! And a thanks to Athlinks for finding my results and letting me claim them!
And after that PR and it being St. Patrick’s Day, of course you must celebrate with a refreshing beverage…green beer!
The DJ was dropping the beats, the beer was flowing, the party of post race finishers was jumping, the coffee and hot chocolate was also being poured for all to enjoy. After the post race party, the option existed to go across the street to the main sponsor’s location, Leff’s Lucky Town. This is such a fun race, even more when the weather is cooperating for all to enjoy. And it also means you can get a post race pic with “Lucky” the fastest leprechaun!
So, all in all, it was a great race day experience this year. No injuries and no crappy weather. Winning situation all the time!
thelaterunner 