PIRATE BOOTY DASH (Napoleon - 2020 - 5K)
49 Mile Drive
Albion had me on a high after my time spent with their photographer. I was really pumped to get back into my Michigan City Challenge. On the way home from Albion I went back on RunSignUp.com to see if any events had opened back up on the weekend. Albion has their series runs on Friday nights which I love, but is slightly uncommon in the running community. I was really excited when I saw that Napoleon had a Pirate Booty Dash that was an in-person event. I knew if we didn’t wake up I had nothing to lose since I would be registering in-person on race day. Napoleon was west on 94 towards Albion again but with a dip south below Grass Lake. I have run in Battle Creek and Jackson metro cities three times since running started back up this month.
We got up with no issues and made it to Napoleon with 30 minutes to spare. Yes, you heard that right. I changed my Waze to “avoid expressways” on the way home from Albion due to an accident on 94. I forgot to take that feature off when we went to bed. I realized I still had Waze set to avoid expressways right before we got to M-14. When we changed it back over it knocked 20 minutes off our travel time. Now Jason says he is going to do this every night before a race so I start getting to start lines on time. ^_^
Napoleon is a very small town with a four-way triangular intersection. It threw me for a loop with three ways that had to stop and one that didn’t. It doesn’t take much with me and driving. ^_^ One of their city signs happened to be smack in the center of the problematic intersection. Jason and I played Frogger to get pictures with that particular city sign after the run.
Napoleon’s race fee was very reasonable. They had extra medium shirts in purple! They did temperature checks at check-in which I didn’t mind. Napoleon’s course was slightly hilly with a lot of sun through country roads. The start and finish were at Napoleon High School. The high school is right across the street from their middle and elementary schools. The slight wind was a life saver in Napoleon. I ran past a barn with horses and pigs inside. Mile two of the course was as cool triangle shape (reminiscent of the intersection). They had a lot of young fast runners in Napoleon.
I thought Pirate Booty Dash would be one of my worst 5Ks with my inability to hold a pace in Albion hours before. I was absolutely exhausted and it hurt (not the injury kind of hurt). I kept telling myself I was going to stop and I disliked running, but somehow I made it in Napoleon. Maybe it was the man in the red tank always in eye sight that helped me hold a good pace or maybe it was the group spirit I haven’t had in months. In Albion I was mostly alone. Determination got me to the finish sweating to death with nothing left. It was a major accomplishment for me.
I got a fruit snack, banana, granola bar and water bottle as post-race snacks. I gave Ryan the banana, Luke the fruit snack and Will the granola bar. It worked out perfect. I kept the water bottle because Ryan drank almost all of my hydration pack water while I was in the restroom before the race start. I was hot on the course. I went to take a sip from my pack and found it almost depleted. ^_^
Napoleon had good music and a nice awards ceremony. I liked their trophies for overall male and female and different colored medals for age groups. The overall female seemed very touched and humbled. I congratulated her as we left to take pictures. For the first time since The Polar Bear Run in Okemos this past January I placed in my age group! My irritated persistence paid off in Napoleon. ^_^ I was so excited for second place. I love placing at runs that don’t have finisher medals. It gives me something to take home and remember the run with. We always make sure to stay until the last awards are given to the most amazing age groups, the older runners.
After the awards ceremony we had fun playing with sticks in the high school’s lawn. The kids found a massive branch that had fallen off a tree. We used it as a swing. (see videos) I was the last participant to leave the race. This isn’t the first time this has happened. I like to take pictures of the race staff when I am the last to leave a run. It gives me the chance to thank them one-on-one without crowds.
Things I take away from Pirate Booty Dash are:
1. Their hilarious and awesome race name. I loved the Jack Sparrow picture on their race logo. I love that their school mascots are pirates!
2. A super small town race with farm animals right next to me at times!
3. Very reasonable race fees with a shirt included …and it was purple!
4. Two really unique city signs. A huge pirate one and a very low to the ground triangular one made of wood. I got pictures by both.
5. The huge line of racing cars that drove past us right before we got on 94. I started my video too late and only got a few of them. It was amazing and made me wonder if they were on their way to Michigan International Speedway. I ran there at Christmas. It was awesome!
I am so thankful Napoleon kept this run on. They said they had record numbers this year which may have been due to so many races being cancelled. I was wrong in thinking numbers would be lower due to the situation. Small town runs can benefit right now. Larger run events will take longer to come back in-person. That’s okay with me, I prefer small town runs. <3
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