Hippocratic Oats

With a little help from my friends

July 14, 2009 at 1:00 am Leave a comment

We were up bright an early to get ready for the race!  After 3 months of training, I couldn’t believe July 12th has finally arrived!  The alarm went off at 5:00 am and I got some food in my system (a zone bar and a 1/2 of a larabar).  Em made us ADORABLE race tanks!  We were the Bunsen Burners because they make things boil….and we love the muppets

Front

Back

Pre race activities

Kelly putting her bib on

We arrived at the race finish line with plenty of time.  Thank god we had better luck with directions than the day before.  Shuttle buses brought us over to the start and we waited about an hour before the gun went off.  In that time, I not only ran into a my cousin Rick but I saw a Colgate professor…small world.  The weather conditions could not have been more ideal.  It was in the 60s with a slight breeze.  Absolutely beautiful upstate New York summer day!

There were a ton of runners (around 12,000), and it took us over 10 minutes to make it to the start line after the  gun went off.  Michele is on an entirely different level with her running, so took off pretty quickly.  Emily, Kelly and I kept right together for pretty much the whole race.  It’s so much more fun to run with friends.

The first 10K went really well.  We made it through the big hills in the golf course portion of the race and picked up alot of time running back down those hills.  There was a ton of  course-side entertainment, including Polish, Belly, and Irish Dancers and bagpipers.  I was feeling great….until I hit the last 5K.  I’m not exactly sure what it was, but I think my low blood sugar and food poisoning combined to make me feel tired, woozy and nauseous.  Emily was a trouper and stayed with me the whole time (I think to make sure if I passed out, someone would be there to catch me ) even though she could have finished much much sooner.  At one point, she offered me water from her water bottle.  I was too out of it to realize she had said “water over your head” and received a surprise splash down.  Even in my space cadet condition, I still managed a few laughs.  I’m not entirely sure I could have finished the race without her encouragement, so thank you Emily.  I love you so much

After the race, we made our way over to the post race party.  We ran into Lia, my aunt, uncle, Rick, Crystal and my mom, which is very cool considering just how many people were at the post race party.  There was free food, music, massages and beer. Unfortunately, I was not feeling so well and I didn’t partake in the consumption of any adult beverages.  I did pick up my race swag.

Finisher Pin

Pint Glass

All and all, the Boilermaker was a great race.  The course was a nice combo of flat road and hills, and took you through some pretty parts of Utica.  There was so much support from the crowd.  The city really comes together to show their Utica spirit. I also really appreciated the race day organization.  Nothing felt out of control or confusing.  It’s a great race that I highly reccomend to anyone who is in central NY during the second weekend in July!

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