Jingle Bell Run 5K recap

Last Saturday, I ran the Jingle Bell Run 5K for the 10th and final race of the year. When I signed up for the race a few months ago, I knew I was taking a risk. December 12th might have meant ice, snow, and sub-zero windchills. But we've gotten lucky this year, and it was in the 40s, dry, and clear.

Let's start by talking about what I liked about the race -- the costumes. People were so festive!!  There was a guy dressed as the Grinch, a few snow women, and even a team of three who were dressed as Santa, an elf, and a package. The costume winner, however was a woman dressed as a Christmas tree, complete with a cardboard star cutout around her face. I have no idea how she moved in it let alone ran.

And, now, for my least favorite part of the race -- the course.  It was short by about one-third of a mile. And it was really hilly. I wasn't prepared for that, even though I work in the part of town where the race was held. I guess I should have scooped out the possible route before race day.  Oops.

Since the course was short, I don't feel like I should even measure my time for my usual benchmark goals, but I will anyway.

My finish time scale:

Good - 36:00 or above

Great - 34:01-35:59

Awesome - 34:00 or faster

Official time:

33:20

Since this race was about a third of a mile short, I'm going to guess I would have been bumped up at least a full minute. That means this race was GREAT.  I'm still searching for that elusive AWESOME mark.  But I kind of like that it's still out there. It's not like I'm done running.

When I set a goal of 10 races this year, I knew it would be a challenge. I knew there would be months when finding a race was difficult. And I knew there would be months I was not interested in doing a race. But somehow, I completed my goal anyway. Stay tuned for my 2016 running goals, which I'll probably post on New Year's Day.