Crazy 8's 8K!!!

My sister found this race and called the family to sign up, the Crazy 8's 8K in Kingsport, TN.  It looked like a lot of fun, run at 9:58 at night, 8K, in a Crazy 8 race course pattern.  Sounded pretty cool.  Even better to me, the 20ish dollar entry fee a week before the race!  Once she and I nailed down the details of the husbands staying home with the kids, we signed up like old times, just Ash, Mom, Dad and myself.  And boy am I glad we did!

We drove the 1.5 hours over to Kingsport to get to the race venue to pick up our packets.  I kind of thought being there an hour and a half before the race was a little crazy (this is when packet pick up ended) but there was plenty of people watching to be done!  We also raided the Foot Rx booth and walked out like bandits!

The race starts and finishes at a high school about 10 times the size of my entire K-12 school with a football/baseball stadium that looked like a college!  Everything pre-race was so well organized!

Here we are before the race

A view of the stadium and finish line

We walked down to the start to watch Neil's walk and enjoyed listening to those involved in the cause for the race.  I am always a fan of races that support foundations that are local.  After chilling for a bit, we headed down to the start line with about 2500 other people.  It was a cool atmosphere. 

We said our goodbyes to Dad as he lined up closer to the Ethiopians and Kenyans than we did and we headed back to pad the pack.  This is a fast 8K and holds the world record for the time so many folks come out to try and break it.  We were not some of those folks:-)

I have been in a lot of races, big and small, and have never witnessed a crowd that could be so quiet during the prayer, national anthem, and moment of silence for our troops.  After the prayer, an "Amen" was shouted with great joy by many people, we were amazed.  I am a believer, and I was shocked at the beautiful prayer and the response of the participants. 

The gun went off and we did the shuffle to the start line that felt a bit like the childhood "red light green light game."  Then we were off.  The race was flat for us Asheville folks, a few gradual hills.  Music, fans, water, luminaries, bongo drums, and other things kept us plugging. 

Ash, Mom and I started together and enjoyed the first couple miles.  The heat came as did the humidity and the race got a little tough.  Water stops were prevalent and well manned, the crowd of runners never really thinned too much. 

At the 3 mile mark you pass back by the finish and through a crowd of people to head to the second portion of the Crazy 8.  This is where we thinned a bit, up a long gradual hill but inspired by the fast fast people headed down toward the finish.  We looped around knowing we got the same downhill soon.

Ash and I stuck together, I think we both wanted to slow down but we kept going knowing we were almost there.  She kept telling me to go on if I needed to, I kept the pace knowing she wouldn't let me get too far:-) which would get her to the finish faster than thought!

We reached the downhill and continued to struggle, she said her face was numb, my leg was numb, we both wanted to puke.  When the finish is that close you just keep plugging away!  I think I lost about half of my water weight from the humidity but continued on. 

At the finish you make a right hand turn up a hill, cheered on by spectators and finished runners.  It is a short hill before you turn into the stadium to finish on the field.  I had Ash on my heels, saw Dad (he had gone to the hotel and showered and had a meal:-), waved, and he cheered Ash on!

Into the stadium we went with a great finish!  As I meandered through the crowds to get Ash and I water, I came back to find Mom and Ashley.  Dad was walking down the finish chute looking at the runners.  He had missed me!  All night we had joked I was the brightest dressed one in the bunch!  No hard feelings dad, he just thought the heat had gotten to my leg:-)

Here we are after the race, sweaty but pleased!

 Ash with two medals, one for each kiddo back home!

So overall, awesome race!  Be prepared for the humidity and heat.  Enjoy the crowds, music and organization!  The glow in the dark medals and the tech shirts are amazing, especially for such an inexpensive entry!  We will be doing this race again!