The Race the Wasn't - Week 12 (March 17-23, 2013)

Atlanta Track Club Women's 5K - March 23, 2013

Typically, I design my own race schedule.  I pick out races that are races that I have ran previously and enjoyed, themes that I like, or causes that I want to support.   I was signed up originally to run the Berry 5K at Berry College since this is a race that I have a few years in a row now and I really enjoy the course.  Well, in February my mom mentioned that she wanted to run the Atlanta Track Club Women's 5K.  This race looked really fun!  A race that is for women with all the goodies that women love - flowers at the finish line, women's race shirts, and the coveted glass necklace for finishers!  I decided I would forfeit my registration for the Berry 5K and do the Atlanta Track Club Women's 5K with mom.


When I woke up on race morning, I knew we were in trouble.  A line of severe thunderstorms were making their way into Atlanta - NOOOOOOOOOO!  Mom and I stuck with our "no excuses" attitude and went down to the race.  When we parked the car, there was a light drizzle but nothing bad.  However, about 5 minutes after we got out of the car and headed towards packet pick-up lightning was striking everywhere.  We made it to packet pick-up and the weather just kept getting worse.  It was about 45 minutes before the race was due to start and the race director asked everyone to head back to their cars to seek safe shelter.  Some people decided to stand under trees and metal canopies rather than going back to their cars - NOT SAFE!  Atlanta Track Club did a wonderful job notifying participants on the race's status.  Originally, the race was going to have a 15 minute delay, however they ended up cancelling the race.

 
One of my Twitter friends Ramona was bummed as well and we found out that another Twitter friend Patrick was actually in route to come cheer us on - how sweet!  Fortunately, we were able to notify Patrick that our race was canceled before he got off of Marta.  

Being super bummed, mom and I went to my favorite post race place for some breakfast - Chick-fil-a! 

Atlanta Track Club told us that they were going to make the situation as "right" as possible for all of us.  We received an email later on that morning that we would be able to pick up our race goodies at one of several locations during the next week.  

Continuing our "no excuses" motto, mom and I ended up doing our own "virtual" 5K later that afternoon when the weather cleared up.  We actually ended up doing close to 4 miles.  We were determined to (1) get our miles in (2) earn our shirts and necklaces!

Ready to go do our 5K

Finished!

What I learned from this is that it doesn't matter if you have a formal race, it just matters that you are doing what you love to do, getting active, and sharing it with someone you enjoy being with!  I am so glad that not only did I finish my race "virtually" but I got to do it with my mom!  

After our race on 4/6/13 we stopped by West Stride to pick up our goodies that we indeed EARNED!  Thank you Atlanta Track Club for making everything "right" for us.  I am bummed that we were not able to formally run the race, but I am happy that the Atlanta Track Club made a good decision (and in a timely manner) that took everyone's safety into account.  I am now even more excited to run this race with mom in 2014!

If you were wondering, yes the Berry 5K ended up getting cancelled as well.  Their race cancellation did not happen until after several "delays" at around 10:00.  Kuddos again to Atlanta Track Club!

Race Pros:

Great shirt!

Love the necklace!
Timely decision to cancel the race for runner/volunteer safety

Race Cons:

None!

Question of the week:  Have you ever had a race get cancelled?  Did you end up running at home later that day to get the miles in still?

Time to Run,

Brandi