Lucky
I was lucky enough to get to run with my kids to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year. We donned our rainbows and green gear, hopped out of the car and the hail started up right away. Then the rain. We dashed back to the car for gloves and jackets then headed back to the start line a little better prepared. I love festive races like this when people dress up. Somehow it’s more fun to run amongst a bunch of people dressed as leprechauns than it is to run alongside plain old runners! Ha! On the way out of the run on our way back home I even saw one of my favorite instagrammers, costume_runner, who was running with her daughter. Somehow it’s extra fun to see people whom I follow on Instagram, live and in person!
We ran the Kirkland Shamrock Run once before, several years ago. We had a good time, but when we finished we all commented that the hills were something to take notice of. That if you didn’t train on hills that this race could be a challenge. We weren’t wrong. As we headed across the start line and past downtown Kirkland, there in front of us loomed the biggest hill. I mean, we weren’t even half a mile in and suddenly, there we were, running up a giganto hill. Runners became joggers, joggers became walkers and walkers became mouth breathers. Jude, for his part, told me that ‘I’m not doing this run again next year!’ He crested that first hill, decided to skip it next year, then became more determined to skip this race altogether, forever, as he climbed each hill after. That was a medal well earned!
