Race Report: Get Lucky 7K

Future hubs and I met up with Rachel, her fiance Matt, and Laurie at the Dunn Brothers near the race start at 9:15 on Saturday, March 19.  Plenty of other runners decked out in green were inside the coffeeshop staying warm until it was time to line up for the race.  Seth, one of my very best friends from college (who also happens to be Laurie's boyfriend) was there for moral support; he cheered us on at the start and finish.

By 9:45, we were towards the back of the 5,600 runners gathered in the starting corral, waiting for the race to start.  Mark and I had dropped off some stuff at bag check right before that, and those of us in the group who needed to use the porta-potties did so.  In 15 minutes, the horn would blow, signaling the start of the race.

Laurie, Rachel, Matt, Mark and I waiting for the race to start

It took us about 5-10 minutes for us to finally make it to the start line after the race officially started.  We jogged for several hundred feet just to keep up with the flow of runners, then started walking.  We made sure to stay off to the side of the road so those participants who were running could pass us with ease.

We took turns running a little bit then walking during the first two kilometers, going past the Guthrie Theater and back onto West River Road before crossing the Mississippi River on the Stone Arch Bridge.  Laurie wanted to run across the entire Stone Arch Bridge, so I decided to do it with her.  She suffers from chronic back pain, but wanted to do this race to continue to be active, and also she wanted to prove to herself that she could run across the bridge.  Well, we made it!  High fives abounded. :)

We waited up for the rest of the crew along Main Street, then continued walking and chatting together.  Matt does not run (as he put it, he signed up to walk this race), so we did not run at all for the rest of the race.  The weather was cool, but the sun was shining and there was a hint of spring in the air.  We chatted with some of the other participants, too, and grabbed cups of water at the water stop around the 4-kilometer mark.  Rachel also came prepared with a couple granola bars, and she and Matt shared one.

We passed the 5K mark as we crossed the Plymouth Ave. bridge, then hit the home stretch along West River Road.  It was a perfect day and the conversation flowed.  The five of us spent a few minutes deciding how we would cross the finish line together.

We decided to skip. :)

We're off to see the Wizard... the wonderful Wizard of Beer!

Seth even shot video of us skipping across the finish line on his iPhone:

Team Ortho's director of communications was at the announcing booth, and she mentioned that Mark and I were volunteers for TO.  That was a cool shout-out!

The timing chips all had us finishing within seconds of each other (Rachel and Laurie in 1:10:22, Mark and Matt in 1:10:23, and I had 1:10:24).  We finished, and we had fun doing it!  The five of us received our awesome stained glass finisher medals, but then Laurie had to leave immediately for work. :(

Get Lucky finishers: Rachel, Matt, Mark and me

The rest of us decided to meet up at Kieran's, as our bibs contained a coupon for a free pint of Finnegan's at one of four Irish pubs in the Twin Cities metro area.  Kieran's was closest to the race finish.

While Rachel and Matt headed for their car and Seth headed for his, Mark and I got our picture snapped by one of the Marathon Foto photographers.

Mark and I picked up our post-race food at the food tent and our bags at bag check, then walked the several blocks to Kieran's Irish Pub.  The line was long and snaked outside the main entrance.  Matt's foot was hurting a lot, so he and Rachel decided to skip out on the free beer and head home.  Seth also decided to go home.  Mark and I waited in line, planning to redeem our coupon for the beer and get food at a different restaurant in downtown Minneapolis.  However, the beer tent we eventually found ourselves in had free cups of beef stew, so Mark and I each downed one, and then we each ate a delicious $5 burger too.  Great post-race meal!

The swag: a finisher medal and awesome hoodie

This pic shows the front of the full-zip hoodie

Team Ortho races definitely have some of the best goodies around.  I picked up some other items at packet pickup, and I didn't have to pay a cent for them!  For every hour I volunteer, I earn 1,000 bones.  These bones can be redeemed for merchandise and race entries.

Here's the other loot.  You can tell I volunteer a lot!

Get Lucky t-shirt, light-up armband, beer stein, and socks

Last year's Get Lucky had a great atmosphere surrounding the race, and I was a little concerned that this year's race might not measure up.  I had no need to worry; this year's race was just as awesome.  I actually don't remember the last time I had this much fun at a race.  Mark and I had a great time walking (and doing a little running) with Rachel, Matt and Laurie, and we hope to walk another race with them sometime. :)