Skirt Chaser 5K

This past Saturday my mom, Luke, and I all ran the Skirt Chaser 5K in Tempe. The idea behind the race is that the women get a 3 min head start on the guys, and the guys have to chase them to try to catch up. Cute? Yes. Oddly gendered? Oh, yes. But perfect fit into the schedule and supports Nicole De Boom, skirtsports, and getting women out and moving? hell yes.

My mom has been preparing for the race with the Couch to 5K program. She started in December and made it through week 3 before she got hit with bad calf cramps. It took a few weeks to figure out the culprit (needed more vitamin D and potassium), but she did a great job of walk/run training and is going to keep going with the program over the spring.

We decided that mom and I would walk/run, and Luke would just run and meet us at the finish line. As we get there I make a quick stop in the porta-johns only to discover that my fucking period started. I had no idea it was coming so I wasn't prepared. It's 15 min before the gun. Luke kept going on his warm up while mom and I asked around for a first aid tent.

No one knew where the first aid tent was. So I'm at ostensibly a women's race and there's no available "feminine products" (god I hate that term) and I can't find the first aid tent for the life of me. It's now  5 min to the start.

My mom was worried and wanted to stay with me. I told her to go on ahead, that she's been training for this for several weeks and she should run. She took a deep breath and got to the start to begin her first race ever, and without the daughter she was hoping would be there to support her. I'm so proud of her for doing that.

I, on the other hand, googled a pharmacy and found one about .5-.75 miles due south of the start. I took off running. I realized that if I ran fast enough I could run to CVS. Buy tampons. Get prepped. Run back, and hopefully hit the start only about 15 min into the race. My mom was doing just under 15 min/miles. If I then continued to run, I knew I could catch her.

Am I crazy? Yes. But you already knew that. What was my other option? Just wait at the finish line? Pshaw.

By the time I did my shopping and hit the starting line, the clock had been running for 14 min. I pushed, pushed, pushed, and caught up with the stragglers in no time! Keeping my eyes peeled, I managed to catch my mom as she rounded the 1/2 way point, yelled "WAIT!!" and jogged to her side. We then finished the last 1.5 miles together.

Going strong at mile 2! Damn, my mom's cute.

We pulled across the finish line in 43 or 44 min total. Luke, the sweetheart that he is, had finished much earlier and headed back to the car to get our stuff and the camera. He finished a 22:32 5K. I'm constantly amazed and impressed by his running.

Apres-race is basically a big party. The race is sponsored by 4 Peaks Brewery and it's so close to ASU that it had a college-party atmosphere. After some wrangling for a wrist band, we snagged our two free beers and sat out in a sunny 80 degree Tempe February (yes, I'm bragging).

Pre-race at mom's. The purple skirt was the "race T". I now have more of these than I am comfortable admitting (all bought 1/2 price!).

Immediately after the race. I need to get Luke a bright shirt so I can spot him! 

In which we drink all the beers.

Even mom posed with a red cup.

The race was a lot of fun and I would certainly run it again. I'm looking for another 5K to do with my mom in April/May, once she's a little further along in her training. I'd love to do one with mom and sister. Luke and I likely have the Sabino Sunset Run 12K in April and the Cinco de May 10K in May. I'd also like to add a 10 mile trail race in April - but we'll see. I love racing and I love racing with my family. It's inspiring to see my mom tackle new challenges in her 6th decade, and I am always impressed and inspired by watching Luke gracefully lope along a trail as if it's no effort at all.

UPDATE: Mom came in first in her division!!! http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=121085359&rsID=122892 (also only runner in her division :) ).