Saturday, June 4, 2011

Why I Run & Corporate Challenge Race Recap

So June 1st was National Running Day, did you hear?  I'm sure you did since there was a plethora of posts about it in the running blog community.  

So why do I run?
Simply, because it keeps me sane.
Because I need it.
Because I can't live without it.
Because it's who I am.

So is it any shock to you that I was one of the Captains for my teams Corporate Challenge?  
When I was asked to became a captain, I knew my first order of business was to get Dri Fit or Technical T's.  I chose to order the same shirts we got for the National Half Marathon. I ordered them from a company in California called ExpertPerformance. Then I had my friend Emily (check out her awesome blog here) design the shirts. And lastly, I sent the shirts up to Embroidme in Chelmsford, MA to get them printed. Don't they look great?
Me with Co-Captain, Kate!
We met in a conference room for gatorade, water and energy bars before heading to the Capital for a team photo.  Check out all those runners.  We had 75 people compete!
 We tried to get some jumping pictures. I'm pretty obsessed with them lately : )
Sorry Kelley, but I have to post this.  It's the world's best photo!!!

Then we headed to the commons and before we knew it, we were off...
I started out with my Kate, one of the other captains, but close to Mile 2, I couldn't keep up.  I was pretty proud of the pace I was maintaining, but it felt REALLY hard.  Truth is, I really struggle running at night.  I prefer to run races in the AM. But I'm getting closer to my goal of racing at 7:30 pace.  Here's my results:

Mile 1: 7:38 Mile 2: 7:33 
Mile 3: 7:54 
.50: 3:53 (7:31 pace)

3.5 miles in 26:56 (7:41 pace)
3rd Women on my team
263rd Woman out of 5240 (not too shabby...)
Oh, PS.  I saw Jess between Mile 2-3 and I screamed out and said hello!  We ran a few steps together... Jess it was good to finally meet you!

After the race we headed to Battery Park Bar and Lounge for some drinks! It was a really really fun night and I love being part of the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge. 
Me with my co-captains, Kelley and Kate!

Now I'm off to run another race, the Foxboro 5K with my husband and a bunch of my blogger friends.
Have you run the Corporate Challenge before?
And Why do you Run?

15 comments:

  1. Yay!! I was so glad to see you! My coworkers teased me b/c I was so pumped to see a blogger friend!

    And you are going to my home turf to run that 5k! :) Hope you have a good race!! :)

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  2. The Corporate Challenge was my very first race (it was in NY). I didn't really train for it so I thought it was the hardest thing ever... I think I finished around 37-38 minutes but I didn't walk once so I was really proud. I was the last person on my team so that sucked but I think people cheated.
    Adam ran Thursday's corporate challenge as his very first race. I was so proud of him - he totally had fun and finished around 37 minutes. He even said he'd do it next year. I was such a proud mama- with a camera, water, towels, a pep talk... except that it was my husband :)
    Good luck on the 5K this morning!!

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  3. what a great idea to have a corporate challenge! And way to take the lead on it!

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  4. Too bad we didn't see each other there, but it was so packed! I feel like there are more participants each year (this is my 3rd year running it). I was pretty slow bec my shins actually still hurt from the weekend but I had a lot of fun with my co workers before and of course drinking after the race!

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  5. Looks like a fun time! It's cool that so many participated.

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  6. How are the shirts from Performance Apparel? Are they comfortable for running?

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  7. Love those jumping pics... and that looks like a great time!

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  8. The shirts are so cool - you did a great job! I am with you on running at night...it just doesn't work for me. I'm so much better in the morning. Glad you had fun doing the CC and still raced well yesterday!

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  9. Nice job, LIzzy! I've never run the corporate challenge before - I work with mostly non-athlete chicks so I'm not sure that will ever happen! hehe. But it looks like fun!

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  10. So I know I already saw you AND congratulated you, but I wanted to say congrats again. Even though you said it felt hard to you, you still did a great job! And then to come back and run an awesome 5K just two days later = rockstar status! :)

    I've never run a corporate challenge before since I don't work in the corporate world, but I think it sounds like a lot of fun. I can't believe how many people participate! I think it's great that it gets so many people out racing.

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  11. How fun that you did a corporate challenge and were in charge of it. That's so awesome of you!

    And GREAT job Lizzy on your PR :) 5ks are soooo hard. I hope you're proud of yourself!

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  12. Oh my gosh -- I did the Corp Challenge (my first race back!) and saw your team shirts... they are so cute! I was jealous, my office team shirts were blah. And cotton. Gross! (I ran in a tech tee that matched my sneakers. hey, if i can't have office pride, at least i can look presentable!)

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  13. First - love the shirts! Second - I kind of want to work a corporate job just to be able to do things like this. Third - congrats on another awesome race!

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  14. Love the t-shirts! Next year, I'm back!

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  15. I've always wanted to do the Corporate Challenege but my company is small and not in Boston so they never do it. I almost went in with my friends company once but cant remember why that didnt work (think I Was sick)... Isnt it usually in July!? I thought it seemed early this year. Maybe someday :)

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