Yesterday was the hottest longest day of the year.  Every year for the last 12 years, Frankfort, IL does a 5K in the evening of the “long day”.  According to the Frankfort Patch, this year drew more participants than any previous year with 403 individuals registered for this evening, weekday race.  Those are good numbers for a work/school night!

I’d like to think that the Frankfort New Lenox Running Club helped up those numbers.  🙂  Here is a pic of our skeleton crew for the night.  Lots of our regular runners couldn’t make the run but we did our best to represent!

Although I registered myself and Aby for the race, I did not run run because of the torn tendon in my foot.  Nor have I run in previous years because a night race when one has a baby/toddler, is a bit difficult but no worries, I fed everyone ice cream for dinner after the race so we could go right home and go to bed!

The packet pick up was smooth and moved quickly.  The only complaint I heard on the entire race that one of the volunteers in packet pick up was very rude less than friendly.  Please know that if you do not want to volunteer at a race or other event, please don’t let someone strong-arm you into doing it.  We have so much respect and love for the volunteers that come out to help, they add so much to our race experience that we don’t want one person to give any race a bad name.   Photo below from the Frankfort Park District Facebook Page.  That’s Susan D in the gold FNRC shirt.

 

The goodie bag was sparse but we don’t run for the goodies, do we?

The race was family/kid friendly with sprinklers & a bounce house.

The race course was certified with chip timing and really good according to the comments of racers and members of the F’N Running Club.  The race started in front of Main Park on Locust, headed toward the bike path, thru Frankfort and busted ass back thru the streets to the finish. 

I heard really good reports on the running aspect of the race.  There was one water stop at the halfway mark, no complaints of overcrowding and everyone was praising the shaded bike path and the mature trees throughout the neighborhood.  Apparently, one of the best aspects of the race was a homeowner who took his hose to the street and was spraying the runners!  Although the temps were high at 97 degrees as we were driving to the race, the winds kicked up and cooled things down quickly before the start.  Even so, temps were not ideal but everyone looked happy and seemed to have ran good times.  It’s always a good race when people finish with smiles on their face and plan to go back again for next year!  Here are a billion some pics, in random order, which I captured of the F’N Runners as the whizzed past me.  Thankfully their bright gold shirts gave me a good heads up that they were coming my way.  I didn’t get everyone as I was also trying to watch the little cheer squad (Michael & Jack below) and some photos were just too blurry to salvage.

Susan M zooms past on her way for a 3rd place finish in her age group!

                  

Nicole Fritz placed 2nd in her age group but was too fast for me to catch on film!

Kristin Kotara, snagged a first in a full out sprint as our fastest F’N Runner who raced the Short Run Long Day.  She may, or may not, have blistered the course in a 21:05 and my camera was barely fast enough to get her, thank goodness Susan did better in the first photo!  Last photo from the Frankfort Park District Facebook Page.

     

Eve Jensen also took a first in her age group but I didn’t capture that either!

Aby was mid pack trying to trip Amanda W so I missed her “in action”.   She ran a 29:46 though and was super happy with the race and shaded course!  Great job, Aby!  Here she is coming back to give her brother a high-five after the finish.

Sean & Meg testing their finishing kick with Barb & Jenny eating their dust close behind!  

                       

Kate S & Company: 

Melissa, Lisa & Brian F who arrived late and didn’t get his gold shirt in time.

    

Nicole R is a blurrrrrrr running past with her two little men in the double jogger!

Jeni H is ALL smiles, just like always!!  And I spy, Kathy H &  Amanda W in the background of the first photo! 

         

Go Betsy!!!  

All in all, it seemed to be the perfect day and the perfect place to spend time with our friends doing our favorite thing, RUNNING!  We will definitely be back next year to participate in the fun.  Look out were growing and we now have an official color that will “almost” glow in the dark.  You can’t miss us.  Honest!   Come out and celebrate with us for 2013!

** Happy Running ** Amanda – TooTallFritz ** amanda@tootallfritz.com