I ran the race with my friend Peggy.
It was a challenging race in more than one aspect.
First, I had been struggling with bad allergies in the week before the race. I was taking allergy medicine that made me really dehydrated and my energy level was really down, since my body was trying to fight off the allergens.
As such, I didn't sleep well at all the two days leading up to the race. I would start coughing in the middle of the night and get up and move to the couch so I wouldn't wake up Peggy, but the couch was not an entirely comfortable place to sleep, so I really didn't. Thank goodness we had a suite or it would have been worse as I would not have had anywhere else to go!
Despite not feeling well, we did get out and about to see some of Lexington.
We picked up our race packets at Keeneland, where thoroughbreds are auctioned and raced. The grounds are really beautiful.
Outside the expo
After we got our race numbers and picked up a few things we needed for the race, we had lunch in downtown Lexington and then found a small bourbon distillery where we got a tour and had a tasting.Bourbon Barrel Distillery is really a small shop, but the guy who gave us the tour was very knowledgeable and I feel like I learned a lot!
Peggy having a taste
So the day of the race I awoke ill-rested and not feeling great. But, there's a race to run!The morning was cool but clear. However, it was a bit breezy and the wind was supposed to really pick up around noon, just when I should be finishing up the race. Peggy and our new friend Brian, whom I met Thursday night at the hotel's happy hour and needed a ride to the start, arrived in plenty of time.
Me, Brian and Peggy
At the start
The start was really cool. It was also at Keeneland, and we heard the National Anthem, then My Old Kentucky Home, and then the bugler's call to start horse racing.
Riders, er Runners, up!
The 13.1-mile course was completely around horse farms, and the course was one of the prettiest I've ever run.
Along the route
A hay bale Minion!
Lonely tracks
A selfie with the thoroughbreds!
Well, hello there!
We joked afterward that the thoroughbreds came to watch us run by, rather than the other way around.
Coming into the finish
You can almost tell from this race photo how windy it had become by the time I was finishing. I came down the "final furlong" to a pretty strong headwind.
Finished!
New race bling
I was very happy to be finished! The finisher's medal symbolizes War Admiral, Seabiscuit and Man O' War, three legendary race horses.But the best part of the day was yet to come! My cousin Chad and his wife Cathy drove down from Cincinnati and met us for dinner Saturday evening. We almost forgot to take a photo together, and we did it outside the hotel's parking lot. By now you can see how windy it was!
Cousins!
In all, it was a great trip. I wish I had felt a little better, but I'm glad I got to Run the Bluegrass.
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