Thunder and Lightning and Rain, Oh My!

State No. 17 is in the books with the Garmin Marathon's Wicked Half Marathon in Olathe, Kansas.
I've been wanting to do this race for a while now. It's the town where my college roommate Patti and her family now live in. A Mizzou gal living in Kansas. We've had many a discussion about this. :)
I flew in Friday morning to Kansas City. It was kind of good to be back. Always glad to be back in the Midwest where I was born.

Got to the race expo and got my number and T-shirt. The T-shirt is awesome!

friends at the expo

The weather was my greatest concern. It was supposed to start raining Friday, but when the alarm went off at 5 a.m. Saturday, the first thing I thought was "I don't hear rain."
We were lucky. We got the race started without rain!
There was some confusion about where the shuttles would pick us up for the race, so I ended up walking over to another hotel for pickup, only to have the shuttle drive right across to my hotel! Oops!
But I got to meet Tiffany as we walked over to the Hilton Garden Inn together. That's what I love about traveling to other states for races. I meet the greatest people!

Tiffany and me at the pre-dawn start

Hey, I ran into a "friend" at the start of the race, and her little dog, too!

Me and my gal Dorothy at the start

It was fun to see all of the folks in costume. I was impressed.

Dorothy at the start

That's some wicked witch

A flying monkey! I loved this costume!

I think they are off to see the Wizard

Alas, the rain did not hold off. In fact, the bad weather did not hold off. I got about half way before the rain started, and at times it was pretty heavy.
At one point we were on a trail and once the dirt on the trail got wet, it was pretty slick. I was afraid was going to be off to see the ER! Thankfully, I didn't bite it on the trail.
But at mile 10 or 11 I could hear thunder. And at mile 12 I saw lightning. Talk about a little extra motivation to get across the finish!
And look! Yellow bricks at the finish!

 I got in about my usual time these days: 2 hours 54 minutes. I had a good chuckle in that as runners crossed the finish, their names were called out. All except mine! Must have been my slowness! LOL
But, I finished. And I had a great time. Despite the weather, despite the slippery trail, despite the slow race.

All smiles at the end! And representing in my Atlanta Track Club T!

Tthen I met my roomie Patti for lunch afterward. Ah, the after-race beverage.

How every half marathon should end

Finisher's medal

I had great fun on the yellow brick road on my way to completing state No. 17 of the bucket list. Next stop, Seattle, Washington in June!