I won?!

Today is National Running Day. I have no idea how long this has been going on for, but this is the first year I have heard about it. For weeks now, I saw posts on Facebook from different running organizations putting on special runs for today.

One that caught my eye was by the local Sacramento Running Association. They organized a 5 mile run along the American River Bike Trail tonight at 6pm. There wasn’t much broadcast about it other than a time and a place and maybe free swag. Well, I didn’t care about the free swag necessarily, I just knew I needed to get a run in today, so why not join them.

photo(19)I don’t usually join groups to run with because my schedule is so crazy, so I can’t stick to one group consistently. But I marked my calendar for tonight to get my butt down to Guy West Bridge to check it out.

Earlier today I caught my friend Scott, who is also a Track & Field coach at Sac State, on Facebook and he said he was going to be down there as well. So it was also a chance to see him and catch up for a few.

I arrived not knowing anyone, but got in line to fill out a raffle ticket.  I picked up a water since it was blazing hot out. And we were able to pick up a free tech shirt from a past race (I got two, while others were grabbing what looked like several). It’s always nice to stock up on tech shirts to run in.

After the 5 mile run along the river in the 85+ degree weather, I cooled down with some water and chatted with a fellow, Alex, that I introduced myself to while we were waiting for the raffle.

photo(20)Next thing I know, they called my name! What?! Me? I never win anything. I won a free entry into this year’s California International Marathon! Kinda cool! So, if any of you want to run the CIM this year, let me know. I have already paid for my entry (the early bird special) and you could get a great discount if you want the entry. They can’t comp my entry or give me a refund, so I would have to sell my freebie. But it was still cool to win!

Great evening overall! 5 mile run in, free shirts, free marathon entry…couldn’t ask for much more.

Happy National Running Day to you all! Hope you got a run in!