Race Report – Castaway Cay 5K

Last week, I also ran the Castaway Cay 5K.  This was my second running of this “race,” and I will admit, the only reason I was so gung-ho to run it was because of the rumor that all racers would receive the new medal.  (Rumor confirmed.)

We didn’t have the world’s best weather for our cruise last week.  We cruised on the Disney Dream from Monday til Friday.  Monday and Tuesday were nice, and I spent some time in the sun those days.  Wednesday, we arrived at Castaway Cay and the weather was ominous.  Lots of clouds, lots of wind.  We were convinced it was going to rain.  So convinced, in fact, that rather than bringing all of our beach gear with us, we planned to head back to the ship after the race to change.  We were afraid that we would end up drenched.

Who is this we I speak of?  Well, I convinced my dad to run with me since he’s training for Goofy, and my sister and mom joined in as well.  My brother and SIL opted to sleep in.  Lazy bums.

I planned to go out and run my 1:1 run/walk pattern.  I was finally no longer sore from the weekend’s half, so I figured I could push.  Thankfully, it was much cooler than it was when I ran this in 2013.  One benefit to the gloomy weather.  Dad decided to try to run with me.  He’s not a big runner, having mainly walked half marathons, but he does spend a bunch of time on his rowing machine, so he’s in good shape.

Poor guy didn’t know what he was in for.

We completed the first mile in about 12 minutes.  This was perhaps a bit too fast for Dad, as I was jabbering away and he was focusing on breathing.  This is why you train, friends.  You CAN race without training, but you won’t like it.  So we slowed down a bit and Dad stopped swearing every time my watch beeped for the end of a walk break.  Caitlin was not too far behind us and Mom walked the race with a friend she made on the course.  She even had her umbrella with her, just in case.

Thankfully, the rain held off and we all got our fancy drinks and fancy medals.  Dad and I finished in about 39:30, which is fabulous for a 5K, and awesome for a fun run.

So it remains true – I can’t go on vacation without a race.  But this one was a lot of fun and we got it in before the rain started.  Not the ideal beach weather, but a pretty fun day nonetheless.