The 10K That Wasn't

The Advocacy Center is an organization in Waco that serves crime victims, with a focus on children who have been abused. We have one of our practicum sites there, so there is always one person from my program who works out there each year. So the Advocacy Center decided to have a run today to raise money for their programs, and a group of us got together and decided to be on a team. Some of us were running the 5k, and some were running the 10k.

Here we all are before the race: (I realize this is an awful picture but it's all I have)

Well, the race started off okay. Dan and I ran with our friend Aaron, who is currently a fourth year in the program.

We were laughing about the differences between this course and the marathon. The main one turned out to be a lack of signs telling you where to go. At some points, there were chalk arrows on the ground, but they were easily missed unless you were staring at the ground.

We kept running and then started wondering where the 10k split off from the 5k. And then we kept running...and wondering...and wondering....until we came to the finish line! Dan and I were so confused and trying to figure out what to do as we crossed. I'm sure we looked completely insane. We kept asking and asking until finally we found someone who'd seen the 10k turn-off. Apparently it was written in chalk on the ground right by the only water station of the race. So I'm thinking we were both looking up to get water and just didn't even see it.

I was disappointed! I was looking forward to a long run today - it would have been the longest I'd run since the marathon. Plus, we totally would have gotten medals since barely anyone ran the 10k - there were quite a few people who complained about missing the turn-off!

But we had fun and helped some kids. Plus they had free Snickers bars, Starburst, and Dr. Pepper at the finish line - all Waco made. (Fun fact: every Starburst you eat has been made in Waco.)

One more fun fact: I was talking to Julie today and told her it felt nice outside because it was really chilly. She asked what the temperature was, so I looked it up. It said 74! Haha. I don't know what we're going to do when we come back to Ohio for Christmas - I'm pretty sure we have fully acclimated to this weather.