New Years Day Revolution Run

I signed myself and my dad up for the Revolution Run for New Years Day. It was held in the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah. As far as races go, this was probably the most unique race I've participated in. I've never done a race that is indoors on a track. I was super glad it was indoors since it was raining that morning (and cold!). I was also glad that we could start this race whenever we wanted. We got there early, so we were able to start early. However, doing 12 laps (I did the 5K) got a little old after a while. I felt sorry for the people doing Marathons on that track; if I didn't first faint of sheer exhaustion, I definitely would have fainted of boredom! Actually, treadmill running is the most boring of them all. I don't know how I'll get back on that thing when it gets too hot to run outside. As uninspiring as it is running in a circle many times over, it is still fun to see/watch others around me run. It keeps the monotony of running to a minimum. I do not enjoy running as much as some people, so anything to distract me from "how much longer?" is helpful. Anyway, we were given an ankle monitor and a thumb clicker to track the laps. I also had my phone. I don't know what was going on with the signals, but my phone app for tracking runs didn't work very well, and neither did the ankle monitors, which brings us to the main "excitement" of this particular race. I kept track of my laps by using in the clicker. I believe it was around 12 laps. I ran a full lap before clicking the button; I know better than to start at one. One click meant I had gone one lap. So, after 12 clicks, I got off the track because I was finished. My dad ran the 10K, which meant he finished after I did. Since he had to go around so many times, he wanted to make sure that he had ran enough laps, just in case his clicker count wasn't accurate. So, he asked the guy who was monitoring the runner's laps via a computer. The guy told my dad that he needed to complete another lap in order to fulfill the full 10K. My dad ran one more lap, and then the guy told him that he still had another lap to go. So now we knew the ankle monitor wasn't working correctly because we witnessed it failing in real time. When it came to my laps, it also said I was missing a lap. But by the time I saw that, it was a little too late in the race and I was already put in second place by default because I "didn't finish" the race. Normally I'd be happy with second place, but not when I know I was actually owed first place--I decided I wasn't going to settle for 2nd place! The time that I had ran (according to my phone) also testified to the fact I had ran a full 5k--if I had actually one more lap to finish, there was no way I was that slow of a runner, not even on the trail. So, I let the lady who was managing the placement medals know that I was actually first place and not second. I felt a bit like a cheater even though I knew I wasn't. She said I could have the first place. Yay! There was supposed to be a ceremony for the winners (my dad also placed--he usually does!) so we waited and waited and waited around. I guess lots of other people were having issues with the monitor (or something) not counting their laps. So after a few pictures, we finally left. We should have right after we found out we both placed first, but I stupidly wanted to be a part of the awards ceremony because I rarely even place. Oh well. The medal were pretty cool though. It was a fun race, minus the waiting around at the end.

I liked that you could start this race whenever you got there. We were a little early, so we started early.

All finished?

An accidental pic, but you can kinda see all the medals waiting to be passed out.

So many laps!

We should have just left after taking this picture, but we hung around longer only to find out there would be no awards ceremony due to technical issues counting the laps.

 

I guess this is as much as an awards ceremony as we could hope for--pictures taken on the podiums!