Race Report: PCRF "Reaching for the Cure"

On Sunday, I participated in the Pediatric Cancer Foundation's "Reaching for the Cure" run. I did the 5K with a friend, Ris, whom I met through my run club. Everyone in the run club did various distances, some did the 5K, 10K, and even a 1/2 Marathon. We had been training for this race for 10 weeks.


I got to the parking structure of the Irvine Spectrum around 6:45am. I got there just in time, because there was a huge line of cars behind me. I was able to collect myself. I put the timing chip on my shoe, my race bib on my run club tank top, and tightened my shoe laces. I then drank my breakfast, yep liquid for me. It's always best to follow your normal breakfast routine for race days. My breakfast usually consists of one of these items: Muscle Milk, Kirkland Weight Loss Shakes (generic Slimfast from Costco), Yogurt with Flax Seed, and Oatmeal. I try to avoid dairy on race days, so I consumed a Muscle Milk Light. And I wanted some caffeine, so I did something I usually don't do before a race...I drank a Monster..


I met up with my girls at 7am, and we walked to the starting line. We took some cute pictures and got ourselves prepped for the race with some stretching, etc. Everyone went to the bathroom in those lovely porta-potties, except Angry Julie. This was a total epic fail that would haunt me later...

The half marathon started at 7am, so we weren't able to witness their start. But the 10K was starting at 7:45am, and my 5K was starting at 7:50am. Ris and I started off the race with a good start. We were pacing at mid 8's, which was perfect for us. I knew that we were at around the 1 mile mark so I looked down at my Garmin. Apparently, my Garmin had a mind of it's own and somehow changed modes. It was now on some kind of training mode, and I did not know how to get it to it's original mode. Ack! I had to pay attention to running so I stop focusing on the Garmin. At least I could look at my splits. We hit mile 2 and did a little loop around. Ris and I were pacing with the Orange County Sheriff's Department recruits. They were singing a cadence and running at a perfect pace. The weather was perfect and everything was right on track for us to finish under 30 minutes. Then all of the sudden, I freaked. I had to go to the bathroom. I had to pee. And I had to pee bad. I've never had this issue during a race ever. I didn't even think about going to the bathroom before the race. I should have known after drinking all of that fluid. I tried to hold it in and keep up with my pace. I couldn't do it and slowed down. I had to walk for a tiny bit otherwise I was going to burst. I would do this in patterns, walk a little, run a little.

I could see the finish line ahead of me. I still had that incredible urge to pee. I put on the speed and proceeded to the finish. I kept going after going through the finish line. They were asking me for my timing chip, but I ignored them and kept running. I ran all the way to the porta-potties. I barely made it there. What a relief!

After going to the bathroom, I went back to the finish line and gave them my timing chip. After dropping off my chip, I realized that there was no water and the finish line. Seriously, I'm really getting tired of these races where you have to hunt down the water at the end. Don't these people realize that runners are expecting water at the end? After meeting up with the everyone from our group at the finish, we went and hunted down the water. We had to stand in a huge line to get water and fruit. Everyone kept cutting into the line, and it was really annoying. This was like 30 minutes after we had finished the race. Yes, that is how long it took for us to get water.

After getting our water and walking around, we headed to the Beer Garden. For $10 we received two Tecates and a burrito from Wahoo's. I'm not one for beer after running, so I had a few sips. I did stay for a bit and enjoyed the company. Everyone was able to relax and enjoy each other's company.

Here's a photo I took of Doris and Tammy, enjoying the Beer Garden.



I learn something new every time I run a race. It may be something big, or something small. These are the things that I learned from this race.

1. Go to the bathroom before the race. Even if you feel like you don't need to go, go anyway.
2. Not wearing my moisturizer with sunscreen made my run much better. I usually get burning around my eyes from the sunscreen in my moisturizer. I did not have any problems with it.
3. Learn how to properly work my Garmin. Know all the functions and how to change them.

It was a great end to my running club. I can't wait for the next event.