Cheryl Prepares For The Mo' Cowbell Challenge!

Greetings from Misery.  I mean Missouri. The "Show Me" state!   Historic St Charles, I think...  What could we possibly be doing here?  Why..Running!  Of course.

It was a bit of a drive, but we arrived safely and went right to the packet pick up at some college.   The expo was rather small, so we did not really hang around for very long.  I noted that even with a "Mask Request" at the door, many of the people inside were not wearing them.  Hurray for getting back to normal. 

We had a few hours to kill before we could check into our hotel, so we visited the local culinary arts by stopping into the Waffle House.   Ah yes!  The Waffle house.   It brings back so many fond memories.   I should note that although the food and service have not changed over the last 45 years,  the prices certainly have!  I had a small episode of Sticker chock at the price of our meal.   But then again,  McDonalds has inflated their prices off their dollar menu just like everyone else.  Fast food has not been very fast for a long time, but now you can't even claim that it is "cheap" anymore. 

The waffle was awesome, and we checked into the room shortly afterwards.   At 5 PM here was a 5 K that Cheryl had to race in.   You see,  in addition to the Half Marathon tomorrow, she also signed up for the "challenge!"  An additional 5k the night before the race. 

The city is very pretty, but we did not take in many of the sights.  Instead, we hung out by the start/finish line and waited for the gun.   I said my goodbyes and headed out to the spectator spot to catch her as she crossed the start line. 

The course was a huge loop, so all I could go was wait for her at the Finish.   I was shocked to find out that she was the second overall female.  Well,  not really shocked.   I picked out the girl I thought would be the winner. ( and she was!) And I looked over Cheryl's Competition and told her she might have a shot at another trophy today.  

Technically,  she DID win a trophy, according to the website.  But there was no place handing out the finisher's time nor any placement trophies.  Perhaps they will be handing them out tomorrow.  OR mailing them later. 

After cheering on the kids and talking pics with the Mascot,  we are now back in our room eating custard and waiting for tomorrows kick off time. I hear parking will be a challenge, so I will probably do what I did today,  wait for her at the finish line. I figured I missed both the start and the finish at the Quad Cities last weekend.  But got lots of Race shots on the course.  This time, I will do the opposite. 

Wish us luck!  Rain and heat are both predicted.   Cheryl is still nursing a hip issue, but it did not seem to bother her in the 5k tonight.   Fingers crossed she does well tomorrow.  See ya then!

Oh!  And the Theme of the race is based off of the SNL skit.  That is why we have to ring the Cow Bells when they play "Don't Fear the Reaper."  Enjoy!