Pumpkin Runs and Halloween Fun

I should have written this post yesterday when I was riding the high of my longest race to date, the Evergreen Pumpkin Run 10-Mile.  Today I'm a little cranky because it's Monday, but I'm still really stoked about my run.  I did it and I didn't die!  It was really, really nice.  Evergreen Cemetery is one of the oldest in Jacksonville, and exactly what you think of when you picture an old cemetery (or at least one in the South):  lots of hanging moss, towering oak trees, marble mausoleums and graves dating from the 1800s.  The run was a 10 mile or a 5k, starting at the same time and peeling off after the 5k.  The 10 mile route took you twice around the cemetery. 

1st Place Sports did a good job as usual with race setup.  They are one of the oldest (if not the oldest) running stores in town, and put on the majority of the big races.  They've got the formula down pretty well, so there is almost always plenty of water, post-run grub, mile markers and digital clocks, and this race was no exception.  This particular run has been going for a number of years, with this being the largest year yet, with around 1600 runners between the two distances.

Elton ran with me, which was really nice.  It was a beautiful morning, in the high sixties, which was the coolest we've had in a while.  Overall, it was just a great morning.  There are pumpkins everywhere, and post-race you can pick one to take home.  We got the bright idea of picking one up within the last two miles, since it wasn't that far.  Two miles seems a lot farther when you have a 13 pound pumpkin in your arms (we weighed it when we got home).  Elton was a trooper and carried it all the way across the finish line, so we had the prettiest pumpkin we saw out there.  It was a lot of fun to carve it and roast the seeds after we got it home, too! 

Overall, the distance and how I felt after made me feel totally ready for the half on Thanksgiving.  It also made me feel like I can do a marathon.  So that whole "seriously thinking about signing up for a marathon" just got a little more serious.