Blacklight Run 5K

Blacklight Run

April 5, 2014

 The Black Light 5K run was an inaugural event brought to the Las Vegas area. It looked like a fun race to do with the family, so I registered the whole family for this race. The theme was to wear white and different colored powders would be thrown at you at various mile markers and black lights would be set up throughout the race. This race was held at Sam Boyd Stadium and was set to begin at sun down. This was the second race of the day for Jason and I, him as a participant and I was a spectator. So, this was going to be a long day for us, as Jason completed the Spartan race earlier. It was very windy on this evening and it was not very dark at sun down, so the start of the race was delayed. While waiting for the race to start, it began to rain. It was a pretty chilly with the rain and wind. Being that it was Vegas, we dressed in shorts and t-shirts, so we were all cold and huddled together for warmth. We took a bunch of silly photos while trying to stay warm. 

 

We were finally able to line up for the start line. There were so many people and there were no designated corrals. It was a bit of a cluster. I'm pretty sure this race had a larger turn out than expected. Once we were in the corrals, we had a long wait. My daughter, Gillian, was getting frustrated with other participants because they were cutting open their glow sticks and shaking out the liquid. She was very concerned that she would get some in her eye and it would cause damage. It was finally dark enough and controlled groups were being released at certain intervals. It took a long time to finally make it to the front of the line. We maybe started at 10pm. The course was very dark and very uneven with lots of loose gravel. I twisted my ankle trying to run during the race. The course terrain transitioned to a flat pavement and before we knew it, we were back on gravel. The course was definitely not planned out well and there were not any volunteers at the transition areas assisting people on the course. 

I was pretty disappointed with the throwing of the powder at each mile marker. The volunteers at the color stations were not very liberal with the colors. I mean seriously, people came out to have fun and get completely covered in colored powder! At one point, I reached into the bucket of powder and grabbed handfuls and threw it on myself and family. Someone had to do it!!

At the finish line, we were each given our own bag of powder to throw at each other in the large black light color pit.

All in all we did have fun, even with the late start and late end. I would have loved to have stayed longer and enjoyed the music and color pit, but we were just too exhausted. This was not one of my favorite races and I'll pass on it when it comes back to Vegas.

Bubble Run 5K 2014

Bubble Run 2014

March 29, 2014

            This is the second year that the Bubble Run 5K has come to Las Vegas and also the second year that we have participated as a family. We had so much fun last year minus a sick child at the start line, that we knew we would do this again the next year. We were down one family member this year due to Jason being away at the POST Academy for work. I recruited my friend from work this year to participate with us. She's been following along on my big journey from 2013 and I have been nagging her to do a race with me. 

            This year the race was moved a month earlier than last year. I was a little concerned because the Las Vegas weather during March and April are pretty unpredictable here. It was about 70 degrees when we left the house. It was slightly chilly to me (I'm usually always chilly) and then add in the wet bubbles and at some points in the race, it was a bit cold. We were searching for the sun! 

            Since I participated in their inaugural event last year, I had something to compare this year's race to. I did a lot of inaugural races last year and this one was great. I didn't see many areas where a lot of improvement needed to be made. I was a bit disappointed this year. I love packet pick up and expected it to be like last year. Last year at packet pick up, there was a place to take a photo with your bib and they had a bubble area set up where you could jump in and get bubbled up! There was nothing at all like that this year. This was a bit disappointing because I try to make it a point to pose with my bib and some kind of race banner. 

            The shirts! What can I say? Last year's shirts were definitely better. They were gender specific, so it was very nice to have a woman's cut shirt. Since the shirts this year were boring, we decided to try out our crafty hand and add a little fun to our shirts. After spending a few hours watching how to videos, we decided to break out the scissors and give it a shot. I must say, not too bad for first time shirt braiding! 

            The race started promptly and we were in the first corral release. The route was reversed from last year, which was a nice change. We went right past the Pawn Stars shop. We didn't stop this year. The route was in Downtown Vegas, which isn't the greatest area, but there was a great show of Metro Police officers to keep things safe! The three of us were plugging along taking in the scenery and the creative costumes and shirts of the other participants.

            We decided to try and guess each color of bubbles that was coming up next. We started out with white bubbles are the start line. Our first stop was pink, or at least we thought it was pink. The bubble pit was so deep that we were completely underneath bubbles. It's a good thing we all held hands!! When we came out, we looked like we had had a bad spray tan! We were orange from head to toe. 

            Our next stop was blue, my favorite color. I decided to take photos as we got closer to the bubble pit and even inside the bubble pit! All you can see is blue. We were pleasantly surprised with the increased amount of bubbles from last year. I think that they had a bit of trouble getting their bubble equipment working properly, because last year the green bubble pit wasn't working. And what did we find this year? The green bubble pit wasn't working again. Talk about disappointing! We pulled off to the side of the road while we watched at Bubbleteers, tried to get it fixed. We were hoping they would get it fixed while we waited. No such luck! The best they could do for us was spray with the colored water that was supposed to be connected to the bubble machine. It just wasn't the same as walking through 6 foot deep bubbles. 

            Our final bubble pit was yellow! Gillian was having so much fun we decided to go through the pit twice. She ended up going through a couple more times! 

There was just too much fun to be had. All in all, it was a great time. A little chilly and a few disappointments, but a great time with family and friends. My plan was to send in my comments to the race director and hopefully they would take my suggestions and comments into consideration. I do look forward to this race again next year and this time, I hope to have my whole family in attendance this time.  

Disneyworld Princess 1/2 Marathon: chasing my crown!

Disneyworld Princess 1/2 Marathon

February 23, 2014

        My journey getting to the Princess 1/2 marathon did not start off magical, in fact, it did not end with a fairytale ending either.  A little background on this trip. As we all know, these Disney races sell out super fast, so this trip was planned about seven months in advance. My hubby, Jason (aka Prince Charming), got promoted to a new agency with the State. Awesome news indeed, what we didn't know was that he would have to go away to the academy for seven weeks and it fell during this trip. Let's just say bummed is an understatement of how I felt at possibly not having him there with me. I stressed, I panicked, I overreacted, and in the long run, he was able to come for the race, but only for 32 hours. 32 hours was better than nothing and I had no choice but to take it.

            The morning of my flight, I woke up with a sore throat! Oh no, knowing myself very well, I knew I was sick. Instead of resting until my flight that evening, I had to attend a mandatory waste of my time class for work! I felt miserable for the whole four hour class. I popped Zicam like candy and hydrated. Then after class headed to lunch with my work wife for some soup and salad. I came home, did some last minute final touches before leaving and took a well needed nap. I headed to the airport for a dreaded red eye flight. Originally, my brilliant idea for the red eye was to have more time in Orlando to explore and have fun with my hubby. That plan was foiled. I'd be all alone the first whole day and the last whole day.

            Orlando here I was all alone and the weather was gloomy just like I felt. I know people told me to expect this weather, it's just I've been here three times now and this is the first time I've seen it like this. Good thing I love cloudy cool weather. I got all settled in and went straight to the expo to try and at least get that out of the way, so that when Jason gets here, we don't have to waste precious time together. Score! I was able to pick up his bib and coast to coast bracelet as well as mine. I bummed around the expo for a bit. As usual, Disney has not learned to order more merchandise. It was only the second day of the expo and almost all of the merchandise was sold out or only had tiny sizes. Good thing I liked the race shirt and did not need anything extra. I came out of the expo and people were running everywhere like crazy. I had no idea what was going on. Then I looked around, it was raining. I had to laugh. I just kept walking, rain and all. I must say, they were the biggest rain drops I've ever seen! I was completely drenched by the time I made it to the bus. 

Fit for a Princess Expo

Bib pick up.

 

          

       After eating at the newly refurbished food court, I settled in my room for a quick nap. My quick nap lasted for hours and was so hard that when my phone rang at 730pm, I literally thought it was 730am. Jason arrived in Orlando at 500am. I decided that since I was awake, I'd surprise him and meet him at the front of the hotel with a nice hot cup of coffee. I almost made it. In the dimly lit morning, I looked up just as this gorgeous man was turning the corner. I did a double take from the ground up and yes, it was Jason. I was so happy to see him, I just scoped him up in my arms for a long hug! It had only been a week since the last time I'd seen him, but that's just way too long to be away from someone you love so dearly. You see Jason and I have been together since we were 16 and we're sad to say in our 40s now. He's my everything!

            We enjoyed breakfast together after getting his stuff all settled in our room. Since he was only here for a short time, we took advantage of some of the free offers that came with our room. Why not! One of the free offers was miniature golf at one of the two Disney mini golf locations. We chose Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf. It was a short maybe ten minute walk from our resort. We had so much fun. The whole course was Christmas themed, complete with Mickey and all his friends and Christmas music. We loved it! As usual, Jason won. What did I expect from a professional golfer? Ha ha. We had good times. We spent the day together doing whatever we pleased. I wished so badly that I could freeze time so we just had a little more together!

Disney Winter Summerland Miniature Golf

            I believe the alarm went off at 230am the next morning. I'm usually the one to continuously press the snooze button, but I was up and getting ready. I needed to be sure to get to the staging area early because I had planned a #run3rd meet up and group photo. Okay, this is not my first Disney race, but oh my gosh, I've never seen so many people in line to catch a bus in my life. Talk about stress. I was so stressed that I wouldn't make it in time for the meet up or photo. I was in contact with a few people via twitter and text for the meet up. The bus line was moving fast so I let everyone know, we were in route and may be a little late. Very  impressed with Disney keeping a constant line of buses loading up runners.  Great job. 

My Snow White inspired costume, thanks #TeamSparkle!

             

 We arrived to the starting line area and I was completely blown away by the volume of people. I had heard there was an estimated 26, 000 participants that weekend. We weaved in and out and made it to the meet up area, only to not find anyone. It was just so crowded with people that it was impossible for anyone to get there, even with continually texting people. I did find one person, Fiona, who I had brought her #run3rd patch for her. She got her patch and headed to her corral. With time pressing, we snapped a quick two person photo and headed off to find the corrals. I was a little bummed that our meet up was a bit of a flop. The walk to the corrals was at least 1/4 of a mile. The weather was already in the 60s and misty. I'm so glad I didn't bring a jacket with me and I was starting to wish I had selected a tank top versus a short sleeved shirt.

#run3rd Meet Up!

            The 530 race started at about 620 for us with the huge amount of corrals for this race. Jason and I plugged away near each other for only a short time. I got my goodbye kiss and good luck race wish. I knew I'd see him at the finish line much later. It's now Sunday and I'm completely sick. I was hacking and coughing, congested, and just not feeling well. I did my run/walk intervals for only a small portion of the race. I just wasn't feeling good. I just wanted to make sure I stayed far enough ahead that I wasn't in any danger of being picked up. I mean, I came all this way, and I was determined to finish to get my Pink Coast to Coast. I mean, that's the whole reason I came. Disney tempted me with another new bling! And we all know, it's all about the Bling and my collection needed this one too!! I must say, as much of a Disney fan as I am, that this was by far one of the most disappointing Disney races. This was a very boring course that was fairly flat with just a couple hills that consisted of freeway on ramps and overpasses. The course was mostly highway and left not a whole lot to look at while running. Plus the morning mist was so thick, you couldn't see too much ahead. You couldn't even see the castle until just inside the park. We barely spent anytime inside the Magic Kingdom and an even smaller amount of time just on the inside of Epcot.

Had to do it, me with the Castle!!

            How did I make it through the race? My dedications, that's how!! I kept thinking and repeating them in my head to keep my motivation going. At one point, I think around mile 8 or 9, I heard someone call out "Steph!" I turned and there was Molly, my new #run3rd friend who I had met Saturday and had happily shared some new #run3rd bracelets with. I had gotten the wonderful idea from fellow #run3rd Team Captain, Tracy. I decided not to make them race specific with Princess 1/2 on them. I was very happy with how they turned out. We brought 100 of them with us and handed them out throughout the race and afterwards.  Molly and I stayed together chatting for quite a few miles. We even picked up and did a few run/walk intervals until she wasn't able to because of some pain. After mile 12, I left Molly and tried to squeeze in some more running. I plugged away until the finish line, there I high fived Mickey and was so happy to cross. 

            I got my Princess medal and inspected it for damage, lol! I then made my way to the special finish area for the Coast to Coast medals. Disney had set it up a little different this time. I had to first get in a line and get my wrist band validated before heading to the next line where I'd actually be given my Coast to Coast medal, which I again inspected for damage. I learned my lesson from a previous race. In the past, a volunteer would cut off your wristband and give you the medal. Oh well, just one more step. Jason had been texting me so we could find each other and meet up. I quickly made my way through the no phone line, grabbed my drinks and food, and sought out my Prince Charming. We snapped a few photos, decided against medal engraving, and quickly got in line (another huge one) for the bus back to the resort.  There was not on bit of argument out of me about leaving quickly and getting back to the room. 

Snow White & Prince Charming!

            We made it back to the resort, cleaned up, shared lunch together, and then I loaded him on the Magical Express Bus to the airport. Thank goodness for sunglasses, so everyone couldn't see me crying like a baby. I cried all the way back to my room and in my room. I was so lonely, sad, and sick, that I didn't go check out the after party at Downtown Disney. Part of me tried to muster up the strength to go check it out, but the other part of me just didn't want to go out and do it alone. So, I stayed back in the room and tried to rest and hydrate and fight off this darn cold. I did the same thing the next day since I had the whole day there. I stayed in my room until I could no longer stay. I enjoyed lunch by myself and went outside to lay by the pool and relax in fresh air only to be rained upon. Ha ha! I was ready to come home, let me tell you!! 

            In line for the Magical Express Bus to the airport, I met the most amazing 73 year old woman, who I spent over six hours with. We chatted each other's ears off the whole wait for the bus, the whole bus ride, and even the whole flight to Dallas. Once we got to the airport, she insisted on having our seats moved next to each other. By the end of my flight, I knew all about her three grown children, her grandchildren, her husband, and her 40+ year career as a Nurse. She was so excited to find out that I too was a Nurse. Darlene was truly amazing and an inspiration. She ran the 5k dressed as Tinker Bell and looked so cute. I wish I had a picture to share. Darlene was as cute as a button, dressed in all matching clothes and accessories. She was spunky and full of life and energy. I pray at 73, I'm as spunky as she! I shared #run3rd with her and gave her a bunch of bracelets. She was so excited to share them with her daughter, who is the runner in the family. Thank you Darlene for touching my life and sharing yours!