Monday, December 7, 2009

Vegas Race Report: Part 1

Okay, folks, this weekend report is long enough that I need to divide it up into two posts. For those of you with a short attention span or that just can't stand the suspense, here is the Reader's Digest version: I ran a Santa Race on Saturday and I beat my time goal on Sunday. Now, for those of you that are still reading, here we go.

While Mike and I were on the plane on Friday, we struck up a conversation with two women across the aisle. It turns out that they were doing the Vegas Marathon and had volunteered at Ironman Florida. They had signed up for a Santa Race on Saturday for charity. Well, a race to Mike is like a party and heaven forbid that there be a party without him. We got the details and kissed sleeping in on Saturday morning good-bye.

The idea of the race was to try to break the Guinness World Record for the most Santas in a race. The registration fee included a five piece Santa suit to wear for the race and to keep. This was the cheapest Santa suit imaginable, so there would be no point to giving it back. Luckily, both Mike and I had packed some extra running clothes, but since we knew we would be wearing the Santa suit on top, we didn't bundle up too much. Big mistake. The race didn't start for two hours and we were freezing by the time Robin Leach gave a few words and all the Santas sang a silly song.

Here we are trying to stay warm and checking out some of the booths before the start. They actually had a lot to eat and drink which really helped.



Watching all of the Santas wandering around was pretty amusing.


In the end, there were 8,000 people dressed up as Santa and ready to run or walk. I was a little worried that I would lose Mike and that we would have trouble finding each other because everyone looked exactly the same. I convinced him to run with me, even though he didn't look thrilled that running my pace would bring down his 5K racing average on Athlinks. He didn't need to worry. This race was purely for charity purposes. There was no attempt at timing, and the 5K course was only 2.5 miles long. He was a good sport about shuffling along with me and it was kind of surreal to be running in a sea of red Santas.

Here is a short video of the start that will give you a little idea of what it was like:





It would have all been worth it to support a cause and to be a part of such a spectacle except I had two mishaps. The first was that I dropped my camera while we were waiting around. It is broken beyond repair and certainly solved my dilemma as to whether I should run with it during the half marathon on Sunday. The other bad thing was that I think some fluff from my Santa suit went up my nose. After the race I started sneezing, my nose wouldn't stop running and my right eye kept watering. I thought that maybe it was a cold, but it felt more like a needle in my sinuses. Sorry, too much information. You get the idea.

After cleaning up, walking around the Vegas Strip and having lunch, we went back to the room and I took a little nap. When I woke up, my right eye was so swollen I had trouble seeing out of it. I looked ridiculous. With a swollen eye and a nose that would not stop running, we ended up eating a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant and going to bed early. Yes, we are boring accountants. We didn't do any drinking or gambling. Cyclops lady and her husband put out clothes and gear for the race the next day, set the alarm for 4:00 a.m. and went to bed around 8:30.

I'll tell you about the half marathon tomorrow!

13 comments:

Amytrigirl (aka Amybee) said...

well, except for the swollen eye, running nose thing, the Santa race looked like a blast! looking forward to reading part II

AZ said...

Aaaah, dangerous santa fluff! Hope it got itself worked out.

Only 2.5 miles? Mike was probably able to lower his average when running with you.

Ali said...

The santa race .. .I did it last year. It was complete mayhem. There were santas going in every direction.

But it was fun and I still have my santa suit

Jean said...

Oh my gosh, the Santa Race is hysterical! How fun!

Sounds like a great time so far. I can't wait to read the rest of your report.

Unknown said...

Sounds like the Santa race was as much fun as Mowing Grass. Love, Dad

Velma said...

Can't wait to hear about part II

Love to Run said...

Were here any reindeer leading the way? That race sounds like a fun little distraction before the main event.

Thomas Bussiere said...

I love it - Sounds like mass confusion. Glad the run went well for you (except for the stuff in your nose and eye). When looking back, these are the things we remember: Not winning the race, but the unexpected. Looking forward to part II.

AZ said...

Oh yeah, did you set the world record?

Londell said...

I know there were many things that may have went a little off plan (camera, nose hair...) but I believe times like these will be the ones you will tell the grandkids when you are to old to run. Makes me want to go do it next year... Really sounds like a great deal of fun!

Now I will wait for the post on the other race!

I Run for Fun said...

Just catching up...you make such a cute Santa! Sorry about that Santa fluff and your camera!

Sunshine said...

Beth..
If you send me a note ...
sunshine@gmail.com
I will send you an e-mail of details/invitation to the first of the season Sunday morning runs at Bethel University.. sponsored by Charities Challenge (Gary Westerlund)
Very inexpensive.. runners show up and some do many races.. some do one or two.. but some runners like Sweet Pea and me.. just run round the big marvelous track a lot of the morning.
If you can manage Sunday morning, it is a great cheap way for MN folks to run indoors.

Sunshine said...

Ooops.. that address is
mnsunshine@gmail.com
sorry...