Brookside Halloween run (purely unofficial). If you aren't a Tulsan you don't know Brookside. It is kind of a trendy area of town and can be a bit pretentious so the idea of dashing up and down the road in costume cracks me up.
The referee and the Ru' bat
the rest of the Runners World Family
We had at least a dozen Coach Kathy's
In all reality the world could use as many Coach K's as we can get - I know I wouldn't be running with out her!
Next up: Tulsa Run 15K
These are the ladies I run with
More of the Runners World Family pre 15K
Despite my rookie mistakes (read not using the porta-john prior to starting the run) I finished the 2010 Tulsa Run in 2:03:15. This is 12 minutes faster than I anticipated! Somewhere around mile 3 I realized I needed to 'use the facilities' but did not want to sacrifice my time. So, grin and bear it I did. I don't know how much of my speed was driven by the knowledge that the bathrooms were in fact on the other side of the finish line. I ran a average of a 13:16 mile while this does not make me Flo Jo this did shave 2 minutes off my usual mile average pace.
The Tulsa Run was a GREAT first 15K despite the lack of beer and water at the finish line - when I crossed they were fresh out and I was in the middle of the finishers. Also there is the fact of a blatant male bias in the awards... please check out a fellow local runner / blogger for the details here Moving 4 Life and the boobie prizes that would have been passed out to the other placing finishers.
For me it is the Filly / Clydesdale category that gets under my skin. I will never be healthy and weigh less than 145. I will always be a Filly. I do not feel it is fair that I am lumped into the same group as women weighing 50+ lbs more than me. Why? These women deserve respect, admiration, and awards too! Running as larger woman takes a certain self confidence and determination. Have you seen most running outfits? Hello spandex! It is not that other runners care but speaking from experience 20 lbs ago when I put on the running gear for the first time I felt like a "stuffed sausage" (yes this was my exact statement) and I was terrified to go out of the house looking like that! Now that I am 180 lbs I still waiver on things I am wearing but in truth I am shooting for comfort so as long as all 'naughty bits' are covered I really don't care how I look so long as I am not nursing new marathon tatoos at the end of my run!
Oh dear - I seem to have gone off on a rant. Sorry.
Bottom line. Women / Men. We all are runners and we all deserve the same shot at prizes. All I am asking for here is equality.
Photos taken from: A fellow Run leader, the Official Runners World Blog, and Runners World Photo Gallery
1 comment:
so cool! congrats on your 15K time -- that's awesome! :)
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