Turning Amish...

This weekend I headed to the Amish country to take part in the Inaugural "Amish Country Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon."  It was an interesting experience from the beginning.  After picking up my race packet, I headed back to the hotel.  Once there I started laying out my race gear for the following morning.  I took my race bib out of the packet and went into my pocket to get the safety pins I picked up at the runners' expo.  They must have fallen out when I took my keys out of my pocket because the were no where to be found.  Then I had all of my clothes laid out on the bed and..... No shorts.  I had forgotten my shorts!  Luckily, I had a pair of sleeping shorts that would have to put in a little overtime.  

Yep, I forgot them....

Saturday morning, I awoke to 32 degree temperatures.... Not quite the 90 degrees it was in Florida last week.  But they say cold weather makes fast times.  Sadly, I forgot my gloves and my hands never really thawed from start to finish.

Pre-race.... Freezing...

It was a beautiful course.  Hills, horses, farms, more hills. Horse manure all over the road.  Some Amish men ran the race.  They wore their regular farm gear (black pants, suspenders, and a shirt).  At least they gave themselves the comfort of wearing sneakers.  All of the water stations were run completely by little Amish boys and girls.

The finish line in the middle of a field.  Complete with electric cattle fence.

I finished in 1:36:13.  Another 5 minutes better than my previous best.  I finished 58th place overall. 6th in the Male 20-24 Division.  The finish line was in the middle of a field and it was full of ditches.  I felt like I was going to break my ankle trying to finish.  But no harm, no foul.  All in all it was a great run, beautiful scenery, and a finishing time with which I was more than pleased.

Post-race... I guess running a personal best turns you into a tool.