Rock N Roll Raleigh Inaugural 5K

I am a semi-fan of the Rock N Roll race series. It’s probably due to the fact that I participated in the inaugural race in 2014. The weather went between 3 seasons and the course was from HELL. Myself and my partner in crime Sharon Mincey lost the course. I had so many ISSUES with that race. I was 1 and done. Since I’ve done a RnR race I am on their newsletter subscription. I received an email a couple of months that they were adding a 5K to the marathon/half marathon weekend and it also gave a glimpse of the bling. Once I saw the bling I was hooked. I had a made a deal with myself that if I ever did another RnR race that I would do a 5K. I was dragging myself in doing the registration. Then there some flash sale happening and they have 5K registrations for $25. Of course I totally slipped and missed the $25. I did get in for $40 I was cool.

My mom has been hanging out with her 1^st born since Shamrock weekend. I mentioned the race while we were in Virginia Beach. My mom was on board. My plan was to surprise her with race entry as birthday gift. My partner in crime Gregory Clanton told my mom that I should go and sign my mom up for the race. Totally not how I was planning it. I signed mom up for the race for the low low cost of $65. Mom is signed up for the race. We are out of the country for about 2 weeks. After we get back, we have about 3 days before race day.

We hit the race expo and pick up our packets and visit some of the vendors. Race is on Saturday morning with an 8am start time. I have discovered after reading race information that there is no parking on Dix campus. They are offering shuttle service from downtown over to Dix. We opt to do the shuttle service. Shuttles are leaving from 6:15-7:15am. Mom and I leave the house about 6am. We park in the same parking lot that we parked for the expo. There is no parking attendant. SCORE, free parking. We sit in the car for a few minutes enjoying the heat from the car. My partner in crime, tall drink, arrives very shortly along with Donna and Shownell. We all head over to the shuttles. The race organizers are running a tight ship. We line up and they load us into the shuttles. We arrive over at Dix in about 5 minutes. As we wait to board the shuttle, I spy with my little eye 2 of my TIFL sisters Tiffany and Ayuna. I call Tiffany congratulating them on arriving early. She tells me that I got her up at the crack of dawn and they are in formation lol. We unload the shuttle over at Dix. As we start to head to the start line, I see a black Cadillac pull up and I’m thinking that car looks familiar. It’s 2 of more my TIFL sisters Sharon and Claudia. I’m like you know you can’t park here. She somehow has talked the volunteer into letting her park there.

It’s about 7am. We have about 1 hour before the race starts. We go and cop a squat on a bench. We meet the other folks sitting on the concrete benches. Everyone is feeling the cold but I am not. After doing shamrock in a northeaster I can pretty much handle whatever weather mother nature wants to throw at me. At about 7:40am, the announcer tells us to start lining up by corrals. I am in corral 10. Ayuna is worried about the 1 hour finish time and moves up to an earlier corral. I tell her not to worry about the finish time. We are on a closed course at Dix. The race begins at 8am, they move us by corral 1-2 minutes at a time. About 8:10am, our corral is at the start line. I notice we have a slight uphill start. I pace myself and move slowly up the hill. As I am walking someone comes up behind me and taps me on my shoulder, it’s my partner in crime tall drink AKA Gregory. He almost made me pee myself. That’s what happens when you have your music too loud during a race, can’t hear what’s going on around you. I can tell that I’ve moving faster than I’m used to so I try to slow it down. I’m pretty familiar with Dix campus as I have done a few races here. We make a left and head down and around and I can see the Raleigh skyline. I notice we don’t go up Tate. We turn to go onto the green way. I notice I have my personal escort, cop car and cyclist. They leave me as I get on the green way. I hear the volunteer radio in “last runner is on the green way” Once I get on the green way I pick up a little speed and pass the group of folks in front of me, I tell them good morning and keep it moving. I’m pretty surprised that I am passing people. It’s normally the other way around. I pass another group. Greenway has a slight incline and I notice we are parallel to Western Boulevard. Then we exit off the green way and turn left back onto the road. We pass the soccer field where the shuttles dropped us. Mom ask me if we will pass the parking deck where we parked and I’m like no that’s in downtown. I point out that we are passing by where the shuttles dropped off. I can see where the start line is. We turn right and we pass the water stop. Mom tells the volunteer she can’t drink any water as she is trying not to have to make a beeline for the restroom. We head up another hill. I notice that we are on the same course as the women’s distance festival from 2013. We turn right and I see a band playing and I pass mile marker 2. I see folks on the opposite side heading towards the finish. I see Ayuna. I hear Tiffany call my name. I high five Sharon. I’m thinking oh I got this because I have less than a mile to go. This part of Dix I have never been to before it goes through a little forest area. It curves around and heads back. I pass the band again. The course starts to go downhill and I can see in the distance black tents and I know I am getting close to the finish line. A lady tells me “you are almost there” I tell her I truly believe I can see the finish line in the distance. I notice folks are lined up on the right. Then I realize this is the shuttle line. This line looks Black Friday line up at Best Buy. Folks have finished the race and RET to up out of here. I head towards the finish line. Another race is done. I stop my garmin and check my finish time 1:08:19. Not bad, not bad at all. Especially for someone who just got off a plane from traveling from Kuwait 3 days ago. Whatever you do, never ever give up!!!