My Weekend in Reverse - Sunday's 8K Run

I have a lot to share about the weekend after having done the Tour de Cure on Saturday followed by Run with the Kenyans on Sunday. Decided to post about it in reverse simply because the photos from Sunday are handy at the moment.

Race info:  My running partner, my husband, & I decided to do this race.  Race proceeds benefit global health initiatives in Kenya (medical supplies, training, etc). They were collecting used shoes to take to Kenya as well. In addition to a cotton race t-shirt, participants receive hand carved giraffes made in Kenya.  Several Kenyan elite runners participate in the event, so it's a chance to run with them (or be left in their dust which is more accurate, ha!).  They had two distances available:  5K and 8K.  We chose the 8K.

The giraffes Husband & I received.  Nice!

Pre-Race: Prior to the race, we were treated to a few songs by Kenyan performers.  They also opened us with the national anthem.  Then the runners lined up, and they introduced the elite athletes.  The only one that I was familiar with was Mbarak Hussein, a long distance Kenyan athlete who resides in Albuquerque.  I believe he's the one who organized the event to raise money for health initiatives in his native country.

Kenyan performers.

The Race:  The gun went off and both 5K and 8K runners started at the same time.  The course is mostly flat except for several under passes.  This was the second event for me that weekend, and I could tell that I wasn't on top of my game.  It wasn't too bad on the way out, but the uphills on those underpasses were a struggle on the way back.  My finish time ended up being 51:04, a 10:16 pace.  I'm happy with that under the circumstances, but I really would have liked a slightly faster time.  As a side note, I actually finished about 12 seconds ahead of my running partner.  We're generally pretty well matched, but usually she has a stronger final mile and ends up finishing a little ahead of me.  In any event, running with Kenyan elites sure makes me feel slow - the lead male finished in 24:15, a 4:53 pace!!

Running Partner & I post-race

 Post Race:  They served some Kenyan food after the race, played Kenyan music, and were selling more crafts (proceeds to the same cause).  I didn't care much for the food, it was mostly fried balls of dough with various fillings, but it was fun to sample it.

Kenyan food post-race

General Thoughts: Overall, I really enjoyed participating in this unique event for a good cause.  I will highly consider doing it again next year if they have it.  Preferably *not* the day after a cycling event.  ;-)