Ozark/Greenway 5K/10K

Friday morning Cheryl and I took off early to head to Missouri. We have been talking about going to Branson MO. to do some shopping at the Outlet Mall for quite a while. Earlier this week I was surfing the internet and I found the Ozark/Greenway 5K/10K in Springfield Missiouri, I sent the link the Cheryl and we decided to have a shopping/running weekend.

Cheryl picked me up at my house at 6:15 on Friday morning and we got to Branson about 10:00. First stop the Coach store. The Tanger Outlet Mall in Branson is nice, but it just didn't compare to The Cabazon Outlet Mall outside of Palm Springs Ca. Four hours and quite a few dollars later we headed to Springfield Mo. to the Bass Pro Shop to resgister for our race and to visit the Expo.
One of Cheryl's oldest friends lives right outside of Springfield and she met us at the Expo. We registered and picked up our packet and race shirt. We were so thrilled with the shirt, it is a long sleeve dri fit running shirt. We had seen people with the shirt but thought they were for the people who were running the 1/2 and full marathon on Sunday.
After we walked around the expo, we had our feet scanned and picked up a few freebies we headed to Hemingway's a restaurant inside the Bass Pro Shop. I had Salmon and steak tenderloins with sweet potatoes... YUMMY!!!

After dinner Cheryl and I said goodbye to Diane and headed to our hotel. We checked in and started getting everything laid out for the race. It was after I changed into my p.j's that I realized I had forgotten my toothbrush. I called down to the desk and luckily they had extras.
After we got everything ready for the next day we relaxed and watched the t.v. show Las Vegas, after it was over it was lights out. About an hour later I woke up from a dream that I was running the race with Josh Duhmal, it was one of those dreams that was very detailed but now all I really remember is him and running.

The next morning Cheryl and I were both nervous, it was cold, about 38 degrees and I was worried about my stomach, neither one of us ate anything. I cannot say enough good things about this race. It started right outside the front doors fo the Bass Pro Shop so we were able to stay inside where it was nice and warm until almost time to run.
Cheryl and I had decided on the 10k, and this was the first time since before Cheryl sprained her ankle that she had run that far, so we weren't really racing so much as we just wanted to get in a good quality training run. We started off with the 5Kers but it didn't take long until they turned off and it really thinned out. I guess it was about 2 miles into the race when Cheryl said we are at the back of the race. I looked behind us and saw a few people and thought oh crap we are almost last. A little bit later Cheryl had to stop to take off her jacket and tie it around her waist, well in that short amount of time several people passed us and when I looked back I didn't see another soul. I told Cheryl I guess the slow people in the area don't run 10K's. I was a little bummed, it was a weird feeling being the last person. Several times Cheryl told me to go on without her, but I didn't until just before our turn around. I really didn't mean to leave her but I just kind of got in a zone and the next thing I knew she was behind me. It was after the turn around when I realized we were NOT last!! There were still a few people behind us. The last three miles of the race I was able to pass all the people who had passed us earlier and I think maybe even a couple more who had started out ahead of us. It was really a great feeling!!!
My final time was 1:05:?? I was happy, I hadn't set out to race so I thought it was very respectable.
After I went through the finish line which was actually in the Bass Pro shop I went back outside to cheer Cheryl in. I was so happy to see that she had also passed a couple of the people who had passed us earlier. Just before the turn into the finish I yelled to her to give it all you've got..... she just gave me a look and said I don't have anything left to give. I know that feeling, I've had it many times!!
After the race they had a huge breakfast buffet set up with biscuits & Gravy, eggs, bagles, muffins, coffee, milk, juice.. it was just awesome.
I love biscuits & gravy but never ever eat them, just too many empty calories, but I couldn't pass them up this time.
After we filled our plates we found a place to sit and a girl approached us and asked if she could interview us for the local paper. Well of course we said YES!! She asked our names, where we were from, how long had we been running, what brought us to Springfield etc. She was really friendly and told us we were so easy to interview and had made her job easy. A little later while we were in line for the free massages she approached us again with a photographer and asked if they could take our picture to go with the article. After they finished I told her thanks for making us feel like rock stars! Check out the link above, she quoted us several times in the article and our pictures are included. The pictures aren't great, we were facing the bright sun so we are both kind of squinty, but how cool we were in the paper!!!

While in line for the massage we struck up a conversation with a really nice guy, we were just chit chatting about running stuff. He was from the St. Louis area, he told us he had run the 5K I asked him what his time was... 15:17. WOW I was so impressed I kind of waved the air around him towards me and said maybe some of his speed would rub off on me. He was just really a nice guy and helped pass the time while we waited. Soon enough it was my turn for a massage, I told the girl that I sometimes have pain in my hips and butt. She started working on my lower back and then worked her way down. She said I was very tight and should think about getting regular massages. She did a great job and I felt great when she was done.
After the massages we went to find a seat to wait for the awards. We didn't expect to win anything but they were also giving away door prizes.
Dick Beardsley was handing out the awards, I told Cheryl I want to win something just so I can go up and shake his hand.
They did the 5K awards first and it took forever! but talk about some speedy people, the overall winner finished in 14:15. In between the 5K and 10K awards they handed out door prizes and Cheryl actually won one, a set of wind chimes.

There was some kind of snafu with the overall winners of the 10K so they decided to do the age groups first starting with the oldest and going down which was nice for us.
Cheryl and I actually won first and second place for our age group. Poor Dick I just about shook his hand off.. I didn't want to let go! You could have knocked both of us over with a feather when they called our names!! LOL
I got a $25.00 gift card to Bass Pro shop and Cheryl got $15.00. We immediately went upstairs to shop!

On the way home we stopped to visit Diane and her husband Jimmy for a little while. They have a beautiful home out in the country, it just felt so calm and peaceful there we almost didn't want to leave.

I had a great time hanging out with Cheryl, meeting her old friends, shopping and running. What a perfect weekend!!!