Scottsdale Beat The Heat 5K

I'm not really sure why I thought participating in this race was a good idea, but I did it.

I haven't raced too much this year. By this time last year, I had already done 5 half marathons. This year, I've only done one. Now, granted, it was part of Goofy Challenge, so it was a really big deal, but needless to say, I haven't raced a whole bunch in 2013. After traveling all over last year for races, I decided to try and scale it back because that gets costly. Plus, now that I have Lou, horse showing has once again become a priority, so I need to save some money.

Anyway, since I'm not traveling as much (still enough to keep me broke...*cough* Dumbo Challenge *cough* New York Marathon *cough* Glass Shipper Challenge *coughcoughcough*), I'm trying out some local races.

I got this email for the Scottsdale Beat The Heat Race and it was different than other races I've done, so I signed up at the last minute.

Now, temperatures have been nowhere near 122 this year and I trained for the NYC Marathon all last summer, so I figured how hard could a 5K with temps around 104 be? Also, the race was held at West World of Scottsdale where I've shown horses for the last 20+ years, so I thought it would be fun to race there since I've shown there my whole riding career.

Well, let me tell you: running a race when it's 104 and the sun still super bright is hard. The race started at 2:47pm (something about the hottest part of the day).

Yeah, they took this stuff very seriously. I arrived at West World about an hour before and still had to pick up my packet. The packet pick up and start area was inside (Thank God) the Equidome indoor arena. The first thing I saw as I walked up to the building was the sheer number of EMTs everywhere.

Eye candy

More eye candy

Packet pick up was kind of a mess. In all fairness, I can't really blame the race organizers for that. I wasn't the only one that decided to wait until the last minute to pick up my packet. Also, we had to sign a second waiver. Everyone was required to sign their life away for the second time acknowledging the risk involved with running in this kind of heat. After signing the second waiver, you got a green wrist band. Anyone seen without a band would be pulled from the course.

By the time I got my packet, ran my t-shirt back to the car, and went to the bathroom, it was only a few minutes before the start. Everyone was lined up in the arena, which I thought was pretty cool since I've shown in there before.

And there was air conditioning

Ready to run!



Tara is more appropriately dressed

Lara and Blake

After about a billion announcements, we were off! As soon as we stepped outside, I felt scorched. It did not take any time at all for my body to start over heating. I honestly think it was because the sun was still so high in the sky. Living in Arizona, 104 is not that hot in June.. Running in 104 in the stark sunlight is another story.

I didn't take a lot of pictures during the actual run because I just wanted to get done. Also, I seemed incapable of running the full thing, even though a 5K is a pretty easy distance when compared to a half marathon or full.

It just looks hot, doesn't it?

Did I mention that I drank a bunch of wine the night before? No? That may or may not have contributed to my difficulty.

I'm dying.

Right before the end, there was a fire truck hosing off runners. I didn't get a picture, but it felt great. The finish was on the polo field, and the sprinklers were on.

This was tougher than I expected. I really didn't think I would feel so miserable. To be fair, the race was fun otherwise and really well organized. My only complaint was that it was pricey for a 5K, especially considering we only got a t-shirt and not a tech shirt. Although the design of the shirt was pretty cool.

Would I do it again? I don't know. I would definitely do another race organized by this group. I just don't know if I want to run another race in these circumstances. I'm dumb, though, so there's a good chance I will magically forget how hot I was by next summer.