Great Day for a (Trolley) Run

   The sunrise was gorgeous as I headed out at 6:15 am to get to the Plaza in time to grab a shuttle Trolley down to 75th and Wornall for the start of the 23rd annual Trolley Run. Too early to be awake on a weekend, perhaps, but this is one of my favorite races of the year, so I was excited; and I otherwise would have missed the view of the sky.

   Speaking of missing things, I got to the start line only about 10 minutes before the race began, despite my early start. The lines for the shuttles were unbelievably long, and I only made it because they allowed runners in the fastest 2 waves of the race to board first. Next year I'll have to arrive even earlier, or park near the start, and grab a return shuttle after running the race.
   I finished this year’s race with a time of 34:08, 8:32/mile, #1862 overall out of a field of about 11,000. Someday I hope to be fast enough that my placement will actually sound impressive, but this is a very competitive race, with the top finishers often coming in at under 18 minutes (yeah: sub-5-minute miles!). My time (34:08; 8:32/mi) was two minutes slower than last year’s (32:03), which of course I’m disappointed about, but I also haven't been training nearly as hard this year. And was getting over 3+ days of laryngitis. And it occurred to me that last year's race was pre-hip-injury, and back in July I was told that I might have to stop running. So, I feel AWESOME about this year's time! Proof that stubborness has its rewards.

My playlist: On to the Next One (Jay-Z f. Swizz Beatz); Headsprung (LL Cool J); Tear it Up (Yung Wun f. David Banner, DMX & Lil' Flip); Elevator (Flo Rida f. Timbaland); DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again (Usher); You Be Killin’ ‘Em (Fabolous)