That Dam Race

Today I ran the Mantua Dam Race which means I have been running now for ONE YEAR! Last year the Dam Race was my first race ever and is really the reason I am still running today. The main reason I ran it last year was so I could get the t-shirt that says I Survived the Dam Race! I was so happy that I finished it last year when the farthest I had ever run previous was only two miles. I ran the entire 4.7 mile route last year without one break and that really motivated me to feel like running was something I could do. Yes, me! Run! That was huge for me since I have always HATED to run. Even just one mile a little over a year ago seemed impossible to me. So today in a way is my one year running anniversary...my "runniversary"!

The route is beautiful and wraps around the entire Mantua Dam. The 4.7 mile course is mostly on a dirt road with lots of little pebbles that tend to make it a little tricky to keep your footing at times. Right before the gun went off one of the men in charge told us that he ran the course yesterday and saw a huge blow snake! I was not grateful for that last bit of information right before taking off! Luckily I didn't see anything except a few cows, but a few of the others that I went up with did see a snake! In some ways I do wish I had seen one because I am pretty sure it would have improved my time!

Speaking of time, last year I didn't pay much attention to my exact time because I was just happy to cross the finish line. It was around 44 minutes I think. This year I shaved some time off of that and finished in 41:50! I was real happy with the fact that I have actually got faster and not slower like I was worried about. I placed 6th in my age group.

There was a group of six of us that ran it this year. Unfortunately no one that I ran with last year was able to do it this year.
















Shauna, Julie, and me waiting for the results.






This year's t-shirt. I just LOVE these shirts!!!! I rotated this but it didn't come up rotated when I downloaded it. Hmm....