Cheryl's Klompen Stomp 5K In Pella

Welcome to Pella, Iowa. 

It is crazy to think that I am here, blogging at 10:30 at night on a Wednesday...And on a Work Day to Boot!   What could possibly motivate me to do such an odd thing?   Well,  Cheryl running a race.... I guess.   And with the Internet at 75% and the event fresh in my mind,  I figured I might as well get it out there and over with while I'm able.   So here we go

Flowers are in Bloom

Pella, for those who do not live in Iowa ...  Is the equivalent of Holland, back in Michigan...Back in 1970's  (Back before illegal immigration was legal.)  In other words.   It is Dutch!   Well,  Mostly Dutch.

  Dutch enough to be proud and festive about their Dutch-ness.  There are bakeries,  windmills, wooden shoes,   and bakeries.  ( And bakeries...) You could think of it as a cute and fancy tourist Trap.  Or a Hollywood film set!   Because there is no way Dutch people are this friendly!  (Just kidding!)   There are also lots of Vander-something ,Van-something, Something-VanWyk and Something-sma .  Many of the young girls looked like my sister-in-law.

And Tulips. 

And there were lots of Tulips!   

In fact,   This was the Tulip Festival.  Holland used to throw a huge party... back when it was still alive.   But I can't remember the last time we visited the Tulip time back in Michigan.  Holland is now a shadow of its former glory.

lots and LOTS of Tulips.

But here in Pella, Iowa...  The Flower is still on the Bloom!    There were so many different types of Tulips that I will have to set aside another post for them later.  ( When time allows.)

Good thing the weather
held

The weather worked out.   No rain,  Cool temps,  and no wind.   The race started at 7P.M. and we had to leave work slightly early to make it on time.  Because it is late,  I will save that part for another posting as well.   Let's just say we had a little time to take in a few of the sites and activities.

Cheryl enters the gate.

As the time neared,   The people began to pile into the staging area.   I was impressed with the crowd size.   Most of these small town events bring a few tourist and a few local/die hard runners.   Bu this even really got folks pumped up.

Cheryl at the Start.

I was able to catch Cheryl at the start and then I ran over to Mile 2. 

Cheryl at Mile 2

Note the Superfly Shoes. 

She ran by with a good placement.  A small note,  there was another runner wearing those Superfly- Shoes from Nike again!

Cheryl at the Finish. 

8th Female,   1st in age group 

This little girl WON Overall Female!

As she ran across the finish line,  I counted only 7 other females ahead of her.   One of them was only 12!  ( And she was the OVERALL female winner!  Incredible!)   There was only one female ahead of Cheryl who was older... and she won the coveted Wooden Shoe!  ( Master class grand prize!)    Cheryl really wanted that shoe... even though it was rather ugly and she detests anything Dutch in the house.   I think she simply wanted bragging rights over all those Dutch Women.   ( Did I mention Cheryl is kinda Dutch?  Yeah...  So now you can hopefully fill in the blanks.)

The Shoes Cheryl will never
take home....

But at least she Won a Medal.

Well,  No shoe for you!   But she did win the age group medal for her category.    Good thing too!  Because there were no finisher's medals at this race.

The Klompen Stompen......5K

I'll have to fill in the rest of the story with the hundreds of colored Tulip pictures I took later...   But let's just say that the drive home was slow and cautious.   I missed a....

1st place.... In age group... But no Overall,  and not Masters.
Meaning,  Someone younger AND older was faster...

Coyote...  Two Raccoons,  A Rabbit, Two Baby Foxes,  and Several Deer!   Also One black unidentified creature. ( possibly another raccoon.. or cat)  The Deer are the only thing to worry about...  but I did not want to harm any creature.  Especially a cute baby fox!  ( They were adorable!)

So ultimately,   it was fun and we are happy we did it.   We thought that the weather and the work time were not going to allow it, but Cheryl decided that work should always take second seat to life. ( And Running = Life!)    I tend to agree.   I better wrap this up and hopefully download those pictures before the WiFi cuts out for good.   Thanks for stopping in.