One thing I've grown to love about Minnesota is all of the summer festivals. Although we are only 20 minutes west downtown Minneapolis, we are on the edge of the suburbs. Just a few miles to the west of us is rural, Midwest America. Just about every weekend during the summer you can jump in the car and within an hour find yourself in a town center packed with locals enjoying the fruits of the season. My husband, Mike, and our son have ventured to a few of these to run their 5k races. They have a lot of fun collecting t-shirts and have even brought home a medal or two since the races tend to be small.This weekend our local festival, Corn Days, was held at a church just a mile or two from our house. This morning, Mike, our son, and myself headed over for the Corn Days 4 Mile Run. With the exception of a few days in June, most of this summer has been cool and breezy. This weekend, though, has been hot and humid. Having not acclimated at all, I just struggle in these conditions. I completed the 4 mile, hilly course but that is the only good thing I have to report about my performance. My time was pitiful even though I ran my best. The worst part, though, was when Mike and two other people later in the day asked why I was limping. Hey! I'm an athlete! People are supposed to say, "Wow, you look so strong and agile!" not, "Are you in pain?" I guess some ART therapy or some deep tissue massage is in my future.
After the race we filled up on pancakes in the church hall. A t-shirt and a pancake breakfast, now this is my kind of race! After a quick trip home to shower, we rode our bikes to the Corn Days Parade. Our daughter was on one of the "floats", which consisted of people walking behind a flat bed truck. This was comparable to the other floats in the procession. The most professional entertainment was the high school band. Mostly it was local businesses, the fire department, and kids organizations throwing candy on the street. It was adorable. We had a great time and saw lots of familiar faces. I gathered our daughter after the parade and we went to the festival. We ate lots of junk food, listened to a local band, visited with friends and then walked home.
What a great day. The icing on the cake was when I got a call this evening that a running vest that I had bid on in the silent auction was mine for a great price. I even fit shopping in somehow! Thank goodness small town, middle America is alive and well.
6 comments:
Sounds like a great time!! Hope it cools off up there for you.
The Corn Days race has been around for almost 40 years and I ran it for the first time last year (or was it 2007?), winning six ears of sweet corn. Gotta love a race that gives you produce.
I miss small town festivals... Being a rural ND farm boy, I have not been to a small town festival in years. I need to look for them!
Small town celebrations are wonderful, especially when they accompany harvest time. And the races that accompany them are often great! Sounds like you had a wonderful time!
ya, we've got the hot sticky mess of summer too. Sounds like a great time regardless though!
Never been to Minnesota. I've always imagined that it's a lot like Michigan except for a bunch of smaller lakes rather than our big huges ones. And you like your sports teams to play on domed fields.
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