Miss Wasatch Me Wun And Win Wace

Ok, so I'm not the "MRS.WASATCH WOMAN" but I am "MISS WASATCH WOMAN" A new trend in running is "all women races". I've read about a few of them and thought it would be fun to compete in one. So, I found out about the only one in this part of the country - a 10K race called "Wasatch Woman". I signed up for the race and decided to give the whole "all women" thing a shot.

So yesterday Jadon and I woke up at 4:30 am and drove to Salt Lake City for the race. I'll have to admit when we first got there I thought the amount of estrogen was overwhelming. I wondered what I had gotten myself into. Just imagine 600 ladies decked out in running gear, talking, stretching, jogging in place, and just oozing girliness. Even though I'm a girl I gotta say that an all men race would be far less stressful. A bunch of girls before a race are just excited, talkative, perfumed, overgeared and underdressed balls of anxious energy.

I hope I didn't contribute to that mix in a major way. To me, a female race isn't about running skirts, pink shoes, sports bras and chatting on the run. It's a competition and I wanted to run my best.

It was funny to watch husbands, fathers and other males try to make their way through the throng of woman before the race. It was obvious that some of them would have preferred to do anything else with their Saturday morning. I bet they were thrilled when the race started and they had some peace and quiet for a little while.

At 9:15 the 10K race started. Usually I run with Jadon so I had to try and find a good pace alone this time. I started faster than I normally do and listening to myself breath was disconcerting so I quickly put my headphones in to drown the sound out.

The race course was two loops around the University of Utah campus. Towards the end of the first loop I saw the lead police car up in front of me. There were two other ladies in front of me. I was shocked. Surely that police car wasn't the very front of the race. There had to be more women farther up. But as I gained ground I realized that I really was in third place. At that point in the race I was starting to feel tired, but with the prospect of placing in the race I pushed harder. Jadon ran back and forth across the campus to cheer me on at different points. I'm so glad he did, I needed it to keep going.

At about mile 5 I passed one of the ladies in front of me, now I was in 2nd place. All of a sudden, first place seemed closer and much sweeter. I wanted to pass the girl in front but I also knew I had 1.2 miles left. With only 1/4 mile left I passed the girl in first and sprinted toward the Finish Line. I could hear her breathing down my neck right behind me. The final stretch was a full out sprint between the two of us. At the last second she pulled ahead of me and crossed the finish line. So I came in second place which is why I am "MISS WASATCH WOMAN" and not "MRS. WASATCH WOMAN".

It was an awesome race, and I've never done that well before. I recieved a gift certificate to a running store in Salt Lake and some free stuff from Nike. After the post race celebration Jadon and I spent the rest of the day shopping in Salt Lake. I ended up getting over $100 in free clothes for placing 2nd. It was an incredible day. We even got to eat lunch at my favorite resturant "Ruby Tuesdays" It couldn't have been better.

So... I'll be running again next year and I may just be "MRS WASATCH WOMAN".