Boston Harvest 5k

September 22, 2012 marked a new experience for all of Team Brunazzi. We directed a race, with no help from co-directors, for the first time! If you remember the last two years we helped with the planning and execution of the Dead Man's Hollow and Boston Trail 5k. But this is the first race Team Brunazzi put together ourselves!

We had a great reason for doing this. Rex is a four year old boy in our school district who is affected by Batten's Disease. It causes loss of motor function, seizures and a lot of other symptoms. There is no cure and the treatments are still developing. Raising money to improve Rex's quality of life and help his family afford the best possible care meant a lot to us. It also meant a lot to all of the runners and walkers that came out to support Rex! Donations from those who couldn't attend poured in as well. All together we raised $4,062! So thank you to all of our sponsors, runners, and volunteers. You made this race happen!

Signs for Rex donated by Carol Hill.

So what went into making it happen? Five months of planning, begging, brainstorming, designing, buying and scheduling. In the days leading up to the race our house began to look like an episode of hoarders. Shane and I had to pick up donations of chips, cookies, and donuts. Shane took the week before the race off work and spent his days picking up race shirts, bottled water, and communicating with volunteers. During the day before the race Shane and I loaded vehicles with tables, chairs, food and water, race bags, etc. We met with Pittsburgh Tent Rentals on Friday night and set up two large tents to cover the food and registration tables in case of rain (it did). We also put out the mile marker signs as well as signs cheering on our family and friends.

Registration tents

 

Our basement prior to the race.

 

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and took everything down to the trailhead. With the help of an army of volunteers we laid out the race day registration area and check-in tables despite a constant drizzle. Fall decorations in the form of hay bales, corn stalks and mums were everywhere thanks to a wonderful volunteer named Carol. Our family and friends helped us hang signs thanking all of our (75!) sponsors and also door prize lists.

 

Three pages of door prizes

 

Rex's family made a poster to explain Batten's Disease and his battle

 

Next thing we knew the timing company was setting up and so was the band, AE Honick & The Soul Shakedown. The local bar provided electricity and I'm sure we provided them an early crowd! More than 70 people showed up for race day registration! We had our own race to get everyone registered and chipped before the actual 5k started at 9am sharp. Around 8:00am the rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds. At 8:50 Shane made the announcement that everyone should walk down to the starting line. I made sure everyone lined up with faster people in the front and walkers in the rear. Then the timing company started us off with a horn!

 

Making signs for our family and friends

 

Shane and I both jumped in and ran too. Both of our girls, Shane's mother, my step father, Shane's sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and a family friend all ran in the 5k wearing the Team Brunazzi shirt. I quickly realized we'd made a mistake when I reached our 1 mile sign and my Garmin read 0.90 miles instead. This was the only major glitch of the race. The course ended up being 1/10th of a mile short because of the misplaced mile sign. Besides that everything was going perfectly.

 

Start of the race

 

By the turn around I realized I was on PR pace. I was running with some of the guys I'm usually trailing. I was having a blast too. High-fiving kids, yelling encouragement to our friends and family, and chatting with those around me. I ran the whole race with a huge grin plastered on my face. It turns out Shane was having the exact same experience a couple minutes ahead of me. I ended up finishing in 24:58. I know the course was a little short but I'm claiming the PR anyway! Shane finished in 20:50 for a new PR as well.

 

My finish picture courtesy of JMeyers Photography

 

Shane finishing with style

 

After the race it was time to make sure door prizes were drawn, awards were arranged, food was available and everyone was having a good time. A quick count showed somewhere around 215 people registered! 180 of those people picked up timing chips while a few chose to walk part of the course or register but volunteer instead. It was an amazing turnout for a first year race! What could make it even more amazing?

 

How about an Olympian?!

 

Amy Yoder-Begley, the 2008 10k Olympian, finished in 17 minutes for 2nd overall and first woman! She was awesomely kind and gave out autographs to everyone, including a special note for Rex! I can't imagine a better surprise than having an elite athlete turn up at a race!

We had some other very special guests that included Kristi Torba of the Pittsburgh Passion women's football team, Lulu the Clown, and Team Odyssey! The Big Beaver Big Dogs and Latrobe Area Pacer Society were also represented well.

Kristi Torba of the Pittsburgh Passion gave a medal to every kid as they finished.

 

Awards

 

The timing company did a great job of getting the results in our hands quickly. There were only a couple glitches where race-day registrants ended up being listed as the wrong gender but those were quickly corrected. Gemma and Ash helped me hand out the awards and a lot people were impressed with the custom medals. Gemma was proud because she helped to design the logo.

 

Custom medals

 

After the awards ceremony most of the runners started to wander off. Our courageous volunteers and amazing friends stuck around to help us clean up and load our cars. Thanks to their generous help we were able to completely clean up the start/finish area in under 2 hours. After that Shane walked the course again to take down the signs and markers and pick up trash while I unloaded our vehicles at home. By dinner time everything was back in its place and Shane and I were exhausted! We celebrated with dinner out and a movie before we crashed.

 

Once we got a good night's sleep we were able to fully appreciate the scope of what had happened. We'd actually pulled off a first year race without any huge mistakes and had double the number of runners we'd originally expected! We also managed to raise double the original goal for Rex and his family. We can never say thank you enough to everyone who came out and made this day so special for the Timko family! Our sponsors, family, friends, and the community made this the best race of the year. It's going to be really hard to top but we really hope we'll see you on September 21, 2013 to do it again!

Reece's Round Up

Shane, Gabby, and I ran the Reece's East Coast Round Up 5k today. This race is for Reece who lives in Colorado and suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Reece wasn't supposed to live to see a year old but thanks to his family and friends and the money they've raised he'll be turning 7 this October.

Seeing Reece made me even more excited about the race Shane and I are directing in September to raise money for Rex Timko. Rex is only 4 years old and suffers from Batten's Disease but I know with the help of our community I know we can celebrate many more birthdays in the years ahead! You can find more details on the Boston Harvest 5k for Rex at Miles of Smiles.

Hanging out with Reece after the race.

Today was the hottest day of the year yet. When we got to the race site it was already in the 80's. By the end of the race it was in the 90's and definitely felt even hotter. The firetruck blew it's horn to signal the start and off we went. I was feeling really good in the first mile. I was running with an older man who seemed to have a very consistent pace. I decided to go with that for awhile. As my Garmin clicked one mile I remarked to him that I hoped I'd still be running 8 minute miles when I'm in the masters group. He said he hadn't realized he was going that fast and backed off. I was sad to see him go. Mile 1 was run in 8:04.

But onward I went and soon I picked a new rabbit. A woman in a pink sports bra was running just faster than my pace. I pushed to catch her and we were side by side for most of mile 2 without exchanging a single word. I think we were pushing eachother. She'd get a little ahead and then I'd catch her and pull ahead by a few feet. We hit a few hills in this section and having her to pull me forward really helped. I believe my mile 2 split was 9:18.

In the third mile we turned into a headwind and lost all of the shade. I began to feel like I was baking. I was panting and my throat was dry. My stomach started to ache and I wondered if I should walk. I forced myself to plod forward but looking at my Garmin showed my pace was even slower than mile 2 on the hills. The woman in the pink sports bra started to pull away and I tried to catch her but my legs felt heavy and unresponsive. Three 5k's in 8 days may have been a little much. I missed my mile 3 split but it had to be mid or high 9's.

I turned the last bend and saw the finish line. It was still two tenths of a mile or so away and I tried to pick up my pace but settled for just maintaining. I heard footsteps behind me and two teenage boys flew past. They had been walking on and off the whole time and I realized that they had no clue about pacing. Next came three older gentlemen who obviously had a finishing kick left when I did not. Being passed 5 times in the last tenth of a mile was not fun at all but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

I came through the chute and stopped my Garmin. I started to dry heave as I walked to the chip removal area. The volunteer handed me a bottle of water and I made it to the grass without losing my breakfast. The EMT's were treating a woman who'd blacked out on the sidewalk. It was obvious it had been a rough race for everyone.

In the end my official time was 26:57 and I placed second in my age group. I was thrilled to do better than my last two 5k's on a rolling course in killer heat. Shane finished in 23-something and Gabby finished in 33-something. They both missed age group awards by one place. I really wish we could have sent Gabby back to North Carolina with an award but it didn't happen this time. Hopefully she'll kick some tail in her next 5k when she gets back home!

Showing off my hardware.

Afterwards we celebrated with Cracker Barrel for lunch and then I finished my scheduled miles for the day. My plan called for 7 miles at marathon pace so I did 4.3 more when I got home at 10:16 average. I'm pretty happy with that, especially with the heat and feeling so horrible after the race. All in all it's been a pretty awesome week and I still have one more day of my husband being on vacation to look forward to!