The Shirt races Clemson, SC

The women's A Shirt That Races hit the 1st annual Easter Bunny Run 5K & Half Marathon in Clemson, South Carolina on Saturday, 11 April 09. I was a sprinter and jumper in high school, but haven't run regularly - or at all - in about 10 years (while in college at Clemson). I just recently started running again, and my friend Beth convinced me to run this race for my first ever 5K.

The weather was a little chilly, but nice and sunny, unlike the horrible storm that we'd had the night before. The non-closed-course race was primarily on the sidewalks or bike paths, but there was little to no traffic so that was ok. We did have to run through the muck to get to the finish line on the intramural field, though!

I ran with my 15 month old daughter, Mattie, and my friends Beth (who wore the shirt last weekend in DC) and Lauren (who will wear the shirt later on in Maryland). Lauren's husband Marc ran the 5K while pushing their daughter, Sophia, and still won his age group!

Me, Mattie, Beth, Lauren, and Sophia

We started out next to the intramural fields and headed to Perimeter Road. Clemson's located in the foothills of SC, so the campus is pretty hilly. I pushed Mattie for a little over the first mile (one small uphill and two larger ones), and then Lauren took over for me (THANK YOU!!!). I continued running for a while longer, and then I had to start the walk-really-really-fast-then-run thing for the next mile over several more hills. I did run more than I walked, though :)

Cherry Road is almost ALL uphill - there are two short slightly level stretches. The water stop was a little past the 2 mile mark, and I caught back up with Lauren and Beth (who'd taken over the stroller - thanks again!) shortly after that. From that point on, it was all running. Of course, the fact that it was mostly level or down hill from there made it a little bit easier! I took back over pushing the stroller around the 4K mark - I couldn't let Mattie finish with a better time than me :)

Even with pushing Mattie approximately half of the race and doing the walk/run thing, my official time was 37:00, which was an 11:55 pace. That's a LOT better than I thought I'd do given the circumstances! Beth's already talked me into doing another 5K and a 4 mile mud run in May - I'd forgotten how much I love to run!

Almost there!

Whoo hoo! We did it!

My "official" shirt with race bib pic (please ignore the "body by baby")

Running in Washington, D.C.

A Shirt that Races hit Washington, D.C. this past Sunday (April 5). I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. See how pretty they were?? We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather.


It was a very early morning! We had to be out of the house and headed for the Metro by 5:45..


Here I am in the shirt....It was too chilly to take my jacket off for the picture...sorry!


I ran the race with a few friends.... Lauren (who will be wearing the shirt at some point) and Michelle.


And at the end of the race, this beautiful face greeted me and said the phrase her Daddy taught her...."Mommy won the race!" (I was far from winning but finishing to me is winning!)


So now for the actual race report..... To give you a little background on me.... I started running just this past July and this was my first big race (as in over 5 miles). I am a relatively slow runner...11-12 minute mile...but I get there!

We started off very well....a good steady pace. The race started on the grounds of the Washington Monument and headed out over Memorial Bridge and back (2 miles down!). We then passed the Watergate Hotel and Kennedy Center...and came back (4 miles down!). Then at mile 5 we passed back by the Washington Monument and headed out to Hains Point for the next 4 miles. Once we were coming off Hains Point (which by the way was very quiet...but a beautiful place to see all the cherry blossoms in full bloom) it was just one more mile to the finish!

There were water stops every 2 miles so we walked through them and ran the rest of the time...until somewhere between mile 8 and 9 I think I walked for a minute or two....then once we passed mile 9, and the last water stop, Lauren wouldn't let me stop to walk anymore! When we rounded the corner and saw the finish line I was very excited! Lauren took off in a sprint so I followed.

The official time in the results was 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 9 seconds....which was under 2 hours...our unofficial goal!

The Shirt will be racing in South Carolina this coming weekend....by a person yet to be determined :-)