Spokane Indians 8K Pennant Race Recap

This report is late because it took longer than a week for the official results to be posted. 

Anyway, this race was on July 23rd, just 6 days after my half marathon.  It was a race that I participated in last year so I knew the ropes, so to speak.  I checked the start time online and planned to arrive at 7:30 which would give me time to get my packet, use the potty, and then line up for the 8:00 start.  I was disappointed to find out it was the kids race which started at 8:00, and the 8K started at 8:30.  So I did what anyone else would do, I moved my car from a pay lot to a free lot, and then sat around waiting, after I peed, of course.

It was an absolutely beautiful day and the sunshine was wonderful.  It was fun to watch the kiddos take off on their run with Otto, the Indians Mascot, and Ronald McDonald.  (This race benefits the Ronald McDonald House.)  Waiting for the start really wasn't too bad.

When we lined up to start (quite a small group) I had the following thought: I just ran a half marathon so this 8K will be cake!  Then I started running.  And for some reason it really wasn't all that fun.  I missed Brandy, my running partner from the half, and I felt a little lonely.  Luckily this race route is on the Centennial Trail which follows the Spokane River so the scenery is quite beautiful.  I tried to focus on that instead of my boredom.

All in all this race went well except that I didn't feel super strong like I was hoping I would.  My legs actually felt really heavy, and I felt super slow.  I actually felt like was struggling around mile 3.  Yikes!  Luckily I kept running.  There was a fairly small turnout for this run and the paths weren't crowded which is really nice on an out and back course. The water stations were good and had plenty of water, and I also wore my hydration belt just in case.

 My time goal was to beat last year's time of 55:54, but I really wanted to run a sub 50.  I kept watching my Garmin time and all along I thought I would do it, until the last mile when I knew I better punch it or fall short.

So I punched it, at least I thought I did. In review of the mile splits later, there was really no punching at all.  All the same, by the time I reached finish line I was ready to stop.  And when I came upon the clock, I was disappointed to see 50:??.  I totally didn't catch the seconds and when I saw my official time last Monday of 50:04, I was still disappointed.  Yes, I beat my time from last year, but if I just could have shaved 1 measly second off each mile, I'd have made my goal of under 50 minutes.  Oh well, there's always next year, right?

The downside of this race was that I was there all by myself.  I showed up alone, I ran alone, and I went home alone.  I didn't even take the obligatory self photo because I didn't even think about it.  While I'm glad to have supported the Ronald McDonald House, it was a fairly lonely event.  And I could have gone out to run my own 8K in the neighborhood for a lot less hassle.  But I like having events on the schedule, so even though I had to go alone, it still feels good to have participated.

As a bonus, part of your fee includes a ticket to the Spokane Indians baseball game that same evening.  My family and I went to that which was a lot of fun, and really cool to see all the people wearing their race shirts!  I didn't wear mine, though, it's a hideous color of yellow!  The Indians lost the game, but there was a spectacular fireworks show after the game, and I love me some fireworks.

One final point: the winner of this race had a finish time of 25 minutes and some seconds.  He was honored at the game and received a prize.  A baseball bat.  I mean, that's it.  I'm not sure I'd have been happy with just a bat.