Weekend Part 2: Race

On Sunday Tristan (my brother) and I attempted the 35th annual Buffalo Stampede. Or rather "migration" as we started 1/2 hour earlier than the "real" race as we were planning on a pace less than 10 min/mile.

In 2007 I ran the 10 mile race in 1:47. I had been running "kinda" regularly. In 2008 I couldn't get the motivation to run so I registered for the race. It didn't work. I STILL wasn't motivated to run and ended up running the 10 miles with zero training in....1:53. My goal was to PR this year as I've been running consistently for the last 6 months. I thought I might be able to squeeze out a 1:45....




I called Tristan the night before and told him to be ready to leave at 5am. I woke up before my alarm and arrived at my parents at 5am.....to a dark house. Now being a fully-fledged kidlet, I do not have a key to my parents. Knocking on the door louder would not be productive because Dad might wake up and answer it....not a good thing on a Sunday morning at 5am. So I scrambled through the bushes and started tapping on Tristan's window.

Tristan answered the door in a bathrobe and with bed-hair. "I was up, I just didn't want to turn on any lights." Uh huh....sure.

After some prodding we were on the road.



It actually RAINED the night before. A LOT. And it was COLD in the morning. After picking up our numbers, chips, and vest (participants prize) we huddled in the truck until start time.

10 minutes before start Tristan informs he needs to pee. Great. As you runners out there know, it's a minimum 20 minute wait for the bathrooms at a race. Combine well-hydrated people and throw in a few pre-race jittery GI tracts and the result is not pretty. Sure enough, we started the race before reaching the end of the line.

I love the start of the race - everyone in a pack, moving in unison, the feeling of anticipation in the air.

Apparently Tristan thought differently. "It's like a group of zombies!"

Around mile 3 or 4, Tristan informed me that he was going to use the next porta potty he found. I never take bathroom breaks in a race less than a marathon. I'm too competitive about my time. Tristan was not amused as I suggested suitable bushes along the roadside and as I waited in the bathroom line I struggled not to think about my PR slipping away.

"Melinda! Get a hold of yourself! The point of this years race is to spend time with your brother! Not a PR!" Oh that's right.

I told Tristan that there was usually donuts around mile 7 and he proceeded to talk about donuts for the next 3 miles. Tristan grabbed a cinnamon roll donut the size of his head and loped off down the road.

After that either the sugar rush or the runner's high kicked in and he was in annoyingly good spirits the rest of the race. He started talking about...speeding up and eliminating the walk breaks. Ummm.....

We took the race easy because Tristan has never gone more than ~3 miles. Ten miles is a lot different. I was sure by this point he would be begging for mercy and I could do a little big sister bullying to get him through the race.

Finally at 1/4 mile to go I told him we would race into the finisher's chute. Ummm yeah. He sprung off like a jack rabbit and finished a full 10 seconds ahead of me. A 1:58 finish.




Next up will be a half marathon. Running races with Tristan is a wonderful way to spend time with my brother and keep in touch with his life.

In exchange for me paying his race entry.....Tristan agreed to wash and wax my truck AND wash my trailer....to be continued.