This year I finally made it up to Ames to run the 5k portion of Midnight Madness. As this is an evening race in mid July, it’s hot and sticky. After finishing you get a bomb pop and sprinklers to cool off under. And the after race food is a pasta dinner.

I finished in 31:57. It wasn’t my best 5k time, but it also wasn’t my worst. The weather was humid and sticky and I was unfamiliar with the course, so while I did ok with the big hill on the course at the beginning, when it was time to turn around to get to the finish, the hill kicked my ass and I had to slow down and walk up the hill. I also drank too much water at the water stops and had a sloshy stomach. Hydration has been an issue for me this year. I’ve been having the sloshy stomach over the past couple of races. Still trying to figure that out before Capital Pursuit and DMS Marathon.

Overall, the race was fun. However what made it awesome was that this race was one that I did with some majorly kick ass women that I met through several running groups. Megan was kind enough to carpool up with me to Ames, Heidi picked up my race packet earlier that day and Sara just inspires me with her passion and desire to run and make age just a number.