Running of the Pigs: 5K Fun Run

The Running of the Pigs was a great experience. I'm glad we chose to do a race with fewer participants as our first one so it wasn't too intimidating. I saw online somewhere that there were about 400 people, which seems about right, maybe more like 350.

After a rough Friday evening, I got a really good night's sleep the following night. I awoke at 7 am on race day feeling like a new person! The race wasn't until 10:30, but Kim arrived at my place at 9 since we had no idea how early we needed to be there. It definitely helped that it was a beautiful morning! The race location was Midway Stadium and as part of the deal, we paid $25 (plus a $2 fee if you registered online) and received a black, long-sleeved shirt that said what else, 'Running of the Pigs' with a picture of a pig. We checked in and received our numbers, mine was 1107, and we were stoked when we found out we could use MP3 players. Very happy with my iPod shuffle by the way!

It was sunny but chilly in the morning, so we sat in my car before the race, talking and making notes of the other runners. We played the game of "male or female" with one ambiguous identity parked a few cars down. The course for the race was extremely boring. It was running down Energy Park Drive so there wasn't much to see along the way. There were competitors of all ranges, from serious runners to walkers pushing their children in strollers to joggers with dogs. At the start, we were behind a group of older women wearing pipecleaners curled like a pig tail. There also was one gentleman beside us who acted as the cheerleader. He was hollering, "Woo hoo, running of the pigs! Let's hear an 'oink oink'!"

The $25 registration fee also included a lunch meal and a St. Paul Saints ticket. We weren't expecting much for the meal, but were pleasantly surprised to hear they were serving Buca's (one of the sponsors). Salad, spaghetti, fettucine, bread and tiramisu!! It was pretty good. All in all, we both enjoyed our first run and are looking forward to the next one.