Another crazy Fayetteville race where the help on the race course doesn't know where to send runners, so we had at least 4 different races run depending on where you were in the pack. I should have known something was up when I called the race director to ask if they were going by chip time or gun time, and she got really defensive and told me "We will NOT be using a gun." I had to explain that most of the local races don't use a start mat, so all times, even when you're using a chip, are gun times. She didn't even know the answer....I should have known. The race was free entry with 5 canned food donations, so I can't complain too much about the lack of anything. Free was great, and we got a lanyard with a dream catcher and a bell attached. So we really did jingle when we jogged. After an awesome welcome by a local high school marching band, a Lumbee song, presentation of the colors, the national anthem, and speeches by lots of important people, we finally got started. I wanted to race this run, so I got up near the front. I still didn't know if there would be a separate chip time from gun time, so I wasn't taking chances. MR started off with me, and we were doing great keeping ahead of almost everyone. I pulled ahead after .5 miles and just followed the guy in front of me. He was pushing a jogging stroller and was easy to keep an eye on. There were only 4 or 5 other men in front of me by mile 1. I was feeling great, and I knew I was the lead female. I couldn't believe it! I was so happy it was a small race and I had a real chance of getting "recognized." There were police at most intersections (the roads weren't closed off), and some teen-agers helping at a water station I saw just after mile 1. I had half-joking asked the people around me at the starting line, "You DO know where you're going, don't you?" Well, I guess no one did. I knew the route for the first 1/2, but the second half I wasn't familliar with and I was depending on the volunteers to point us in the right direction. I was pretty sure something had gone very wrong when at around mile 1.6 I saw the 2 lead runners running back towards me, and the policeman told them to go down the same street he'd sent jogging stroller man down. I approached him, and he pointed me down that street too. I asked him if that was the right way to go for me since it was only my first time approaching that intersection. He said yes, and sent me after them. I figured they must have changed the route, so I just followed the 2 leaders and stroller man. So by this point, I'm actually #5 and still the first female. I know that I've run 1/2 the distance so I didn't worry when we started going back exactly the way we came. Out and back? Okay...I can do that. I was feeling great and other than my lungs being on fire, things were really good. I just kept my pace up and followed the stroller guy. I think one other guy may have passed me before I finished, so I was #6, but no females ever passed me, or were even close. SOooooooo, imagine my horror when I turn the final corner to the last .2 downhill into the chute, and the road is full of other runners. And there are 2 or 3 women in front of me!! WHAT? Where did they come from? They were coming from the other side of the road...how did they get there? What race were they running??? (there was only one 5k)!! I got mad. Very PO'd mad. All the adrenalin, all the work, all the excitement of knowing I was the lead female, all G-O-N-E. After I crossed the finish line I actually yelled out, "Great! Another one they screwed up!!" This is not the first downtown race that I've run where people on the roads who are "helping" end up sending runners the wrong way. It's just never happened to me before when I was racing. I usually just run the races for fun, and this time it meant more to me. I ended up running 3.25 miles instead of 3.1 miles. MR, who ended up taking 5th overall (and was behind me), had been diverted with every other runner behind me to take a different street back to the finish, and they only ran 2.9 miles to the finish. And that's why the finish road was full of people, and I didn't get my first place female finish. Boo! After talking to others who crossed the finish line, the first few runners that I came back across on the route at mile 1.6 had run out and back almost .5 mile before turning around and meeting up with us. So they ran 3.75 miles. And didn't come in till 6th and 7th place, even though they were in front of me and were smoking the course. Even later in the race, they diverted runners/walkers a different way, and sent them around a round-about a couple of times before sending them back to the start. I don't think they even went 2.5 miles. Oh well. There's not really any way to fix a huge mistake like that.
The girl who was given the first female award was so sweet and came up to me after the race and told me that she knew I was in front of her and offered me her prize $. She was so nice, and I told her that she was very thoughtful, but I couldn't take it from her. She had run fast and strong, and she ran the course they told her to run and come in first. I told her I thought she was a great runner, and she should be proud of her accomplishment. After I talked to her, I felt so much better. I wasn't angry anymore, and I actually felt foolish for being so crazy in the first place. I'm going to blame it on the adrenalin. I don't race often, and I'm not usually competitive, and I think that's how I should keep it. I'm not a good sport when I feel like I get cheated... at least not for 30 minutes until I cool down. So now I have a good story to tell. Hell hath no fury like a runner cheated :-) It was actually lots of fun to be at the race with so many people I know. Lots of co-workers, and even a couple of the students I work with were there at the water stop. I was so proud to see them there helping on a cold Saturday morning. Here's a pix of a few of the GCHS crew with our super- superintendent Dr. Till: 
The "bubbles" girls both came. First 5k ever for one of them, and first in too many years for the other. I'm so proud of everyone who came out- it really made it fun to have them there. GO BEARS!
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