I was shooting to run a 10K, but it wasn't to be. With Ronnie training for his marathon, school starting, Ronnie semi-injured/semi-sick, and crud (that will come in a sec) it was too much to aim for. I backed myself down to a 5K about a week left to go, and knew even that would be a stretch based on the lack of training I have done.
Lucky for me, the race info went out to a great group of ladies at Osan who all signed up for varying distances. I was doubly lucky that several of the Draggin Ladies were running the 5K as well.
You couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather and before we knew it, we were off and running. Ronnie was well enough to participate in the 5K while pushing the girls in our jogging trailer. I planned to run/walk my 13 minute/mile pace, which is about what I average with no training. After the first mile, I fell back in the pack behind the other ladies. The lack of training reared it's ugly head a few times when my heartrate skyrocketed, but Ronnie and the girls stuck by me. I figured I may as well enjoy the race if I couldn't actually "race" in it.
We had a grand time watching the dancers, cheerleaders, and everything else that Korea offers to cheer you on. As one of my friends noted, Koreans tend to run like they drive: running really fast, then just stopping in front of you for no reason, randomly darting in and out right in front of you, with no care of where you may be. I felt bad too, I think I tripped a few people by accident when they darted in front of me while I was mid stride.
About the last mile, I knew I was a little behind my target time and needed to make up some ground. Ronnie ran up ahead so he could take some pictures at the end and have the girls ready to run me in. I had just began my run when I noticed a young lady who I had been running alongside. She and her family were running the 5K as well, and she had fallen behind. Her dad was doing his level best to run with her and her sister who was stopping and waiting up ahead. Being that I wasn't going to get there any faster, I offered to run with her to the finish so her dad could catch up to her sister.
That last mile was brutal, but with Catherine by my side, it went by quick. Before we knew it, we had caught up to Ronnie and the girls. As is tradition and where we can, the girls ran with Catherine and I to the finish line, into the cheers of my fellow Lady Draggins, and Catherine with a big smile on her face. It was a fabulous run and I even got my pace goal - 12:55 was my average. Not bad for being out of shape.
We knew we had some goodies waiting for us back at the festival area. Since Ronnie and I were registered for the 10K, we got a bonus in our bag... a 1 kg bag of rice! After the race, we hung out for a while and waited for some of the other Osan ladies to cross the finish line. We meandered about, finding some wonderful oxtail soup, rice, and bean sprouts to munch on from some friendly ladies.
We found the USFK tent and were chit chatting in there when, in true "we brought a bunch of Americans to the race" style, they brought in some Whoppers and Cokes. I was too busy enjoying my soup, rice and bean sprouts to eat a Whopper, so I shared mine with the nice woman who gave me the Korean food. She giggled and went about splitting the burger between herself and her coworkers.
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