Road Ends 5 Mile 2019 Photos 31 Mile Drive The 2019 Road Ends 5 Mile has a very fitting name. The road literally ends before the first mile of the course.  Pinckney State Recreation Area is absolutely beautiful.  It is an extremely difficult course.  I got my first wood medal! This was the first run of RF Events Serious Trail Series!  It was amazing.  Running just as the sun came up made for great scenery.  It was very peaceful with different sounds than other times I have run trails.  There was a slight mist in certain areas of the woods.  I had to jump over a few trees and got multiple water views on the course.  The finish line out from the woods was long and made for a great spectator area.  There was a guy near the end that talked about how he wouldn’t let a woman beat him.  I overheard the conversation.  He passed me with a group of guys.  It is true that men are usually faster runners than women, but that doesn’t mean a woman can’t beat a man, it just doesn’t happen frequentl

Earthday Challenge Photos 31 Mile Drive The first annual 2019 Earth Day Run up Mount Brighton was a last-minute change when I had to miss the Houghton Lake Trail Run. I registered at the run, something I don’t do very often.  It must have been meant to be because we won a $50 Bass Pros gift card and five beautiful glass straws during the recycling raffle. We brought in an old cell phone and toothbrushes. The Howell Nature Center had set up animal exhibits with a hawk and opossum.  The opossum was amazing and very sleepy.  The hawk on the other hand was very alert.  It was also a very tiny hawk.  The course mirrored the Hot Cocoa Classic going up and around Mount Brighton and through the golf course.  We took the back way around Mount Brighton and did not go to the very top.  It was muddy on the course.  They had a great award ceremony.  It was very relaxing and comfortable.  We all ate bananas and admired the animals.  I placed in my age group and was told I would get a ski gift certif

   Martian Invasion of Races 2019 Photos 15 Mile Drive First 10K the martian way!  My first 5K was a Zombie Dash and my first 10K was very fittingly the 2019 Martian Invasion of Races. I had a blast making the Flerken ship costume and won a blow-up alien for my efforts!  The ship took a lot of time.  I liked that it became a back-pack that was easy to walk around in.  I added a lot of humor to the Flerken ship.  I glued pictures of famous cats on it.  The race expo the night before the race was very fun for the kids. We got to see RF Event's undercover alien transport van.  We learned that RF Events drops off free alien blow-ups to homes on the course route in hopes they will blow them up and put them out for participants to see.   They had awesome vendors and a fun alien photo-opt.  Aliens were all around the building, even at the top of the rock wall in the gym!  My friend Jodi was wearing an awesome astronaut suit on race day. I attempted to duct tape my bib on and that ended ve

   No Frills All Thrills Run 2019 Photos 29 Mile Drive 2019 No Frills All Thrills was a beautiful trail run with perfect weather.  I got to meet Kelly and we found dogs to take pictures with.  I renewed our Metroparks pass for the year.  We use the Metroparks pass a lot.  I met the race director Don who was staff at the Detroit Free Press Marathon.  Don was awesome.  I choose the 4K instead of the 8K race.  Huron Meadows Metropark is really scenic.  On the course I saw a lot of Maltby Lake.  You could see the finish from across the lake at the halfway point of the course.  I saw a crane in the field on the course near the photographer’s station.  The last hill up to the finish was huge and exhausting.  Post-race food was sweet with a lot of cookies, candy, brownies etc. Kelly won an amazing age group flashlight.  Brighton Page

   Twinkie Run 2019 Photos 17 Mile Drive The 2019 Twinkie Run for ALS was awesome, although I didn't read the rules about eating the twinkies while running and ate my first one right away while waiting to start.  I carried my second twinkie to the finish for what I thought would be an epic picture.  I ran with some good running friends in Gallup Park.  It’s very scenic. I love the water at Gallup Park.   I won a pint glass for an age group award.  I almost didn’t make it to the awards ceremony.  I started to leave thinking with all the fast young runners I saw there was no way I would have placed.  I ended up getting my favorite place of third in my age group.   Sarah watched the kids while I ran.  It worked out because she works in Ann Arbor and got off work right before the race started.  I got to talk with Bob and Bobbie after the race.  They had both eaten two twinkies during the run.  They were grilling twinkies post-race for participants to have!  The Twinkie Run raises money