John and I got to talk as we were running the race. He is pictured here with Karrissa. I told John I could relate to running in sweats. When I was training to run across the U.S. I had never been off the east coast. With running through desserts in my mind, I thought I would prepare for them by doing my training running through the summer in full sweats. But, since I ran through the desserts in late May and early June, the temps were only in the 80-85 degree range. Where the training did come in handy was later. As I started running through Nebraska the temps were in the 100 range every day with high humidity.   
 May came in second in the women’s division. Peter, May and I were in line working our way to the great buffet that The GazBar provided for the runners.
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For me this was a rare opportunity. Since I always am the one getting pictures taken with people before and after races, photos of me running in the races are rare. The team that put the race on were taking photos as we all approached the finish line. These photos were then put on one of the big flat screens for all to see. This to me was one of the things these organizers did that set their event apart from the other races. GREAT IDEA, SHOULD BE USED MORE OFTEN.
“Thank you” Leominster. “Thank you” race organizers and volunteers. ‘Thank you” GazBar. And “Thank you” to all that showed up October 13th and made the day such a great experience.
If you were not there, you NEED to make this one of the races you do next year. The atmosphere, people, organization and the cause will bring this race to a 500-1000 person even in a hurry. So be a part of the growth.
