Ho Ho 5K

December's run was the Ho Ho 5K at Tigard's Cook Park.
Any excuse to dress up :)
It was dry and crazy-warm (60 degrees!) at 10 a.m. when Santa blew the horn and kicked off the race. Much different than last month's frozen race. It was a brutal start, first heading up the steep road out of the park. But I'd run it lots of times and knew to pace myself. Then we headed into the Cooper Creek/Picks Landing neighborhoods.

I felt pretty good, running just over 9-minute miles. I hoped I could keep it up and then sprint to the finish, maybe coming in under 9s.

We eventually took a steep trail down into the park and ran along the rain-swollen river. I started to drag, slowly losing time. The course went in and out of the woods before turning around at the boat ramp. By then, I really wanted to stop and walk - but I kept going. I sprinted the very end and dropped a couple seconds off my time. It was not a good run:
Oh well. I was there more for the costume and free saplings and Sno Balls!
Honestly, the after party kinda sucked. I've done a lot of races, small and large, and this one was kinda sad. Though it was put on by a race-event group, and they kept bragging about it being the 12th or 14th annual Ho Ho, they seemed very unorganized. Though there was so much potential, it just wasn't all that fun.

We drank hot cider and ate split pea soup (I know, very random!) while this guy handed out some prizes:
Pam (on the left) won a massage for husband Rick (I apparently didn't get a picture of Rick - sorry, Buddy!) and Mom scored some sweet shades:
I think they look best on Brad:
And Lynn got something too!
Eryn rocked the antlers:
After, we went to Davidson's for some post-race lunch:
I had my camera sitting on the table but was so hungry that I dug right in and forgot to take a picture of my breakfast burrito. YUM!

It was really fun to do the race with friends and family, but I think I'll skip this race next year and try Portland's Jingle Bell Run/Walk instead.

:)