As a Best Damn Race ambassador you’ve seen me post plenty of times about the series and the races. I love them, what else can I say? Even though Safety Harbor is my favorite in the series, Orlando comes in a close second. This race in my “hometown” is always fun because I see my runner friends from Orlando and all over the state. Its like a great big reunion! Add in a great race, awesome medals, and a fantastic after-party and it is quite the fun day!
This year my friend Jenn and I decided to do the Challenge which includes running both the 10k and the 5k. We weren’t up for running the half marathon and decided this was the next best option. In addition to being a couple less miles, you end up with a total of three awesome medals for completing the challenge.
We showed up a little early on race morning to make sure that we got some where to park and had time to pick up our race packets. Apparently we weren’t the only ones that decided to wait until race day to pick up our packets as there were some pretty long lines. But BDR had things under control and it wasn’t very long before we had gotten our bibs, shirts, wristbands for the after-party, and were ready to rock.
After catching up with some fellow ambassadors and running friends we headed to the corral to get ready to start the 10k. We didn’t have any time goals for this race. We just wanted to give it our best and finish with smiles on our faces. I really enjoy the 10k course in Orlando and the 6.2 miles past pretty quickly. I’m not a huge fan of all the brick in downtown Orlando, but the way the course is laid out you get a big break from it in the middle of the race.
We finished with a respectable time and had about 30 minutes to drop off our medals, enjoy a beer, and hit the porta potties before lining back up for our second race of the day.
Our goal for the 5k? Finish. Neither of us had any idea how our bodies were going to deal with running a 10k, taking a 30 minute break, and running a 5k so we just decided to make sure that we finished. About 2 miles in my hip decided it wasn’t too happy with the situation and we had to slow things down a bit. Thankfully I had great company and before I knew it we were crossing the finish line for the second time.
Hip issues aside, I had a great time completing the challenge and spending time with my friend Jenn. And walking away with three super awesome medals wasn’t too shabby either. This is my last Best Damn Race of the year, but I’m already looking forward to racing in 2018!
