Race Report: Kicks and Kisses 5K

On Saturday, February 15th, I participated in the inaugural Kicks and Kisses 5k, which is a part of the new BRIN racing series here in Nebraska.  I was initially drawn to this race because of the fabulous job the race directors, Zach and Heidi Harsin, have done in marketing the event.  They gave away several race entries and the grand prize for winners in the event was a pair of Saucony shoes.  How fun is that?!

The forecast for the day showed a high of 52 degrees, which is beautiful for February! However, Friday evening as I was attempting to pack (my sons were NOT interested in losing my attention to this activity), I checked again and race start was going to be 27 degrees. Ugh, great...really though, what did I expect?! It's February! So, pulled out the tights, gloves, etc. once again.  I am NOT one of those runners who sport shorts and a singlet regardless the weather.  Just ask my husband, I am not a fan of being cold.

Philip and I arrived at the race right on time, picked up our packets, and found some water to drink.  We met our friends Adam and Beth beforehand and chatted with a few other runners.  Luckily, we were indoors for pre and post race.  A couple minutes before the race, Beth and I made our way outside.  We went to the very front of the line...my way of thinking is the closer you are to the start, the closer you are to the finish.  Anyway.

Once the gun went off, we started running towards the trail behind the Lancaster Events Center.  A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had bought some trail shoes.  For whatever reason, it didn't occur to me that this race might, in fact, be run on a TRAIL.  Dude, THINK! I have run here before.  I chose that morning to instead pack my shiny new racing flats.  So there I was trying to make my way up an icy hill.  Sheesh.  Luckily, after we passed 84th street, we were back on a road and all was good.
I fell into second place pretty quickly after the race began...and if I'm being honest, I totally expected this.  In my mind, I am not pessimistic, just realistic.  Hayley Sutter is faster than me.  So, my goal beforehand was to get second.  However, there was another girl RIGHT behind me the ENTIRE race.  Scary! I was going as fast as I could the entire time.  Towards the end, I tried to pick it up a little, but wasn't sure how far she was behind me.  I ended up coming in second place by three seconds.  Again, I wanted to rip my lungs out since I'm always on that treadmill and never run outside.

The hot chocolate afterwards was wonderful, the bagels were great, and we really liked the awards ceremony.  Philip and I weren't able to stick around for long afterwards since we had the triathlon that afternoon, but I'm sure those who stayed had a great time.

I really enjoyed the BRIN racing series' first race and hope to run Cornfield to Cornfield in June.

Happy Running!