Chase Corporate Challenge Bandit (Race Report)

 

I totally brought scissors to our team tent and turned my t-shirt into a tank top.

My employer pays for a large number of us to run the Chase Corporate Challenge.  However, you have to sign up in February.  Since at that time I didn’t know if I’d be able to run in May or not, I didn’t sign up.

But I’ve run Chase every year since I started at my current employer so when I realized that I would be able to run I started sniffing around for a bib.

Hey, it’s already paid for, right?  My work would just be wasting that money if I didn’t use an unused bib!

Turns out my coworker got a migraine and went home to sit in a dark room.  Which left me her bib.  So, I used it.

And promptly ran my slowest Chase Corporate Challenge ever.  31:30 for 3.5 miles.  On the plus side, I think that will go down as one of her fastest times.  Glad I could do that for her!

They changed up the course this year and it was basically a lot of running through what are essentially tunnels.  Combined with the crowds, the temperature and the humidity I think everyone ran slower than they wanted.  Plus, since I didn’t bother to study the course map I didn’t know when to pick it up towards the end.  My Garmin was all messed up from the tunnels and then suddenly the finish line was right in front of me!

Could I have run faster?  Maybe.  But I did tell myself to hold back a bit.  No point in running faster and aggravating my hip any more than I already did.  Yes, it was kind of sore and stiff afterward.  Bummer.

Still, it was a gorgeous night to enjoy the city and I’m glad I got the chance to run.  It’s taken me a few days to come to terms with the fact that I’m not as fast as I was in the past two years but life is not always about the speed.  Sometimes it’s just about the opportunity.