On A Windy Day... Cheryl Runs The Santa Shuffle.

A "break" in the stockings has allowed us to do a small Santa Shuffle in Davenport today!  By "break" I mean:  12!   12 stockings was the limit set by our combined mind powers as the cut off on whether we could attend the race or not.   6 would have been so little, it would have worried us that the Sales had completely stopped.   But any number over 12 would have forced us to stay home and finish them so we would not fall behind.    But 12 was the number.. And EXACTLY 12 orders came in last night.   Looks like we can Shuffle with Santa! 

Cheryl had signed up for this thing back in July!   Why so early?  I guess there was a sale??   Or she was overly confident in our stockings dropping off AND our ability to not fall behind.  But the race was on the calendar all this time and we had been cautiously waiting to see if we would be able to attend.  Last night, we devised a plan if the stars aligned.  Cheryl needed a long run this weekend anyway,  so we planned on heading to Muscatine to run 10 miles, before  the race...  (Which was supposed to start at two o'clock in the afternoon.)   

Watch out for Ducks!

Muscatine was WINDY!  Gusty wind that stopped you in your tracks!  However,  as we noted,  the sun was shining, the path was clear.   There was no snow or ice, no rain, and the temps were in the 40's.   The only bad thing was the wind, and that was tolerable, considering the time of year and all other variables.  So we ran.   10 miles!   Cheryl even ran with a sub- 8 mile per minute pace. (Not bad for a training run.)

With the long run behind us... time to head to Davenport.  With only about an hour to spare, we picked up the packet outside and waited in the warm car for the race to start.   

Elves that smoke are not "Competition."

One of the key features of this race was the swag.   In addition to getting a metal,  there was the hat, shirt, antlers, treats all along the course, and beer and hot chocolate at the finish line.   Cheryl opted for the bear hat, because she already has a Santa hat... and she does not like elves very much. 

 

I suffer from "Floppy Antler."

 

 

As for me,  she bought me antlers.   They were too small, too floppy, and blew off the moment I stepped out of the car. needless to say,  I did not wear them for very long. 

Cheryl's Ailment: Ineffective cleavage

Cheryl was also disappointed by the shirt.   She has to have all of her running attire "just so" if she wants to run competitively.    A shirt that shows off too much cleavage  is not something she wants to sport around in public.  

Look for the runner NOT wearing red or green.

At one point,  Cheryl eyed her competition and figured it would almost be better to just take the swag and head home.. skipping the race all together.   It was NOT timed after all.   So there was no point in completing it if there was no record of her achievement.  But, after ditching the shirt,   she decided to run it anyway as that was the only way to get the metal. 

At the start line,  there was only ONE professional runner that was not wearing red or green.   Can you guess who it was?  I imagine that is why it was not timed to begin with:  To keep the PRO's from participating.   "Professional" runners gum up the works and tend to ruin the fun for everyone else.   They bypass all the candy and treats the race officials have carefully set up to make the race enjoyable.   They race by the strollers, dog walkers, and old ladies as they push and shove their way to the front of the pack.   And they showboat when they cross the finish line a full 2 minutes ahead of their nearest competition.  

And that is exactly what Cheryl did.  

She said right away that she was going to win it. Not first in her age group...  First OVERALL female.   And that is just what she did.   She finished first overall female.   Third overall finisher!   Only two men got in front of her.  She even said that if there was a little more distance, she could have picked off the second male, who was straggling a little.  

Aside from pushing a few old ladies out of the way,  her biggest socially unacceptable antic was that she did not collect any of the cool treats that were offered.   For ME!  I really wanted some Hershey kisses.. But not even a candy cane in passing?!?  ( Candy Canes won't melt in your hands... and it was wrapped, so you can't eat it on the course anyway..)   However,   we did manage to get the Free Beer!

Note:  Cherry on the bottom!

Ah yes,  One Free Beer for the racer.  The Tap Room was right next to the race, so we hightailed it to the bar as soon as Cheryl showed off her Medal to Santa.    One of the Perks of having a fast runner in the race, is that you can beat the crowds to the after party.  We were able to have our pick of the selections and enjoy it at an available table.   The Beer?:   Cherry Bomb Blond!  We had this beer in Clinton AND for Thanksgiving.   It even came with a Cherry in the bottom.   Awesome.  

Beer!  It's not the Cherry on Top?

So, any race that offers beer at the end is a good race in my book.   I guess I can live without the chocolate kisses or Candy Canes... as long as there is Beer.   Good beer!  And Cheryl enjoyed showing off her running skills to an impartial and unresponsive  set of runners.   Most of them will not even know who won the race...  Nor will they care.  As long as they get their Candy Canes  and got to show off their Christmas attire.  I can understand that. 

Hope everyone had a great Saturday today.   I would say that it was mostly good for us.   Cheryl got to run 13 miles overall on a day that we thought might not even happen.   The sales are still coming in and we should be able to catch things up tomorrow. And I got to sample a really great beer. 

Beer with Santa? 

Oh!  And Cheryl won a 5K race.  ( I guess I should point that out... ) Too bad Santa could not join us for the Beer.  Perhaps we could have convinced him we were really well behaved this year...

Thanks for stopping in.