Will Run for Beer...or a Mimosa!

Wow!  How time has flown ..I have just been so busy!!  It has been way too long since I posted, and I need to work on that.  Work has kept me in the office at wee hours of the night (and sometimes morning) and it has kept me from updating everyone on all the fun I have been having running and meeting new friends.

Last week was very big for me.  If a picture can tell a thousand words:

This one would at least say that I PR'd my 10K time by over 7 minutes!!!!  Yeah, I know.  Total shocker for this gal too! 

I decided that I was going to align my physical race at Esprit de She 10K and my Jost Running Octoberfest 10K into one race.  I don't always do this because, as you know, virtuals can be done anywhere/anytime.  But for my next two races I am going to take advantage of closed off courses for best time.  What I love about Jost virtual races is that they actually have a little more "meat" to them because you email your results; I like the competitiveness.  Some virtual races that I have done don't even care if you run, they just want your payment and they send you a medal.  Now I understand that it is all done for the goodness of charity and that is why people manage these virtual races, but this girl wants to earn her medals!  Every medal hanging on my wall was earned and recorded!!

Me and the girls at Esprit de She

Esprit de She was ABSOLUTELY an amazing event.  The race started at 7ish and we were there until 10...pretty much when they were packing up!  After the race we were treated to wine, mimosas, and little sandwiches.  We had white linen covered tables with beautiful flower arrangements and live entertainment.  A pampering station was there as well if you felt you wanted a rub down.  A well thought-out, organized, and executed event.  All the ladies that I went with said it was a definite to-do next year!  

This month's Octoberfest races are going to benefit Midwest Food Bank.  I was really impressed when this was the first thing I saw when I went to their site:

It really touched my heart!  This is what I learned about their history:

  "Midwest Food Bank (MFB), a faith-based, non-denominational nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization, was started in 2003 when the Kieser family began providing food out of a building on their family farm.  MFB began by serving about 10 food pantries in McLean County, Illinois.   Today we serve approximately 500 organizations across the midwest. The food given out each month now reaches over 100,000"

Yeah, pretty amazing.

Sooooo, the unfortunate thing about Esprit de She was that they didn't give out medals.  Can you believe that?  A women's race and no medal!!  LOL.  Yeah, that is the unfortunate thing about races under a half marathon distance; you may not get a medal.  But not to worry!  I got this beauty on its way:

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!  A bottle opener too!!  The creative minds over there at Jost Running keep killing it with their designs.  November's are already out there and December's are coming...better sign up!  You don't want to miss out!!

Happy Running!