I raced pushing the stroller Friday night and had a great time! It was a very low-key, tiny race at the University of Rochester to welcome students to the new school year. Don’t feel bad that I had to race pushing the stroller, feel bad for me because I was organizing my house and walked up and down the stairs to the second level and then attic (carrying boxes) about a million times in the 2 hours leading up the the race.

The course was 2.1 miles in a big loop along the Genesee River. Based on the past 2 years, I had a feeling I could tempo-pace this race and get second. My husband was running and would capture first place, but I was hoping to keep him in sight as long as possible. I lined up in the front, right on the starting line and started out fast. The “fast” was short lived. Within the first 50 meters I almost caused a pile-up as my BOB stroller went haywire on one of the bumps on the bike trail. I was swerving back and forth across the path, blocking anyone who wanted to pass. There were some gasps from the pack and a guy passed me. I could hear   people right behind me. I knew I’d have to go slow on the bumpy parts of the trail.

I can tell you how the whole race went: me going as fast as I could on the flat trail parts, then me going very slow on the bumpy trail parts. It was sort of like a fartlek actually! There were just 2 hills and I thought I could gain some ground on the downhills to make up for the slow parts but no, the downhills made my stroller sound like a car peeling out of a driveway… SCREEEEEECH and it started zig-zagging again so the downhills were not places for making up speed.

Here’s a blurry, far away pic of me. I’m hunched over because I was coming off an uphill. I don’t usually run with both hands on the stroller, but the bumps in the trail (at 6:20 pace) left me no choice!

Around the one mile mark, I passed the guy ahead of me so I was in second place. I saw my first mile split: 6:20. Much faster than I expected considering my stroller troubles. I ended at 13:15 or 6:20-ish pace for 2.1 miles. I was happy with that. After Currie and I crossed the line, I released her from the stroller and she ran 50 meters back on the course, then ran across the finish line with him. Actually, ahead of him! I caught the most classic picture with my iPhone!

Currie inched ahead right at the finish line right as Jeff was wiping sweat out of his eyes! What an awesome, unplanned picture!

After the race, we enjoyed a beginning of the school year BBQ which was quite tasty. While we were eating, Currie asked: “Daddy when will I be able to run as fast as you?” Ah, that was heart warming.

So there you have it. I know there were better pictures taken during the race, but I’m not sure when they will be available so I’m going to post this recap without them.

Next up, a 5k this morning where the first place prize is $100 and bagels for a year. I won this race the past 2 years so I’ve had a lot of bagels since we’ve lived in Rochester and I would like to keep this streak going. I pre-gamed last night by eating some of my winnings from last year’s race. Gotta keep my eyes on the prize. (HA!)

How did your racing or long run go this weekend? Have you raced pushing a jogging stroller?