Sammy and I finished 2nd in a race on Sunday! I was so shocked to find the results on Monday morning. We’d left soon after finishing so we could meet up with the family for breakfast. I never expected to place against people not pushing a stroller. We ran really well and Sam enjoyed the race. Lots of people asked for Cheerios along the way, or to hitch a ride 🙂 (In case you’re wondering, 8K is 4.971 miles.) Dave and Dad came along as race crew and official photographers. Our medal is being mailed to us 🙂

A note on racing with a stroller…

This was my first medal win since Sam was born – I haven’t run any races without him, and very few races in the country have stroller categories so my time is compared to other entrants in my age group. Despite this, we have placed in the top 10% fairly consistently, and it looks like the first race with a stroller category will take off in a few months. When I mentioned the need for a stroller group last year to Raul Boca (he runs BOCA triathlon training and organizes many of the island races), he immediately agreed to add a stroller category to their November 10K in Kailua. He is also interested in collaborating on my strollers-only run idea this winter. Nice guy! Go BOCA!

Stroller entrants can definitely be accommodated in races, and I take precautions to ensure Sam’s safety and that of the other runners. My competitiveness has evolved over the past two years. When I first started, I was just happy to finish! Now I realize that I’m competitive even with a stroller, so I plan a bit more to ensure I have a good race, too. A few tips:

• Run with a small set of speakers and play music. People will hear you coming and it’s not nearly as obnoxious as saying “on your RIGHT!!!” Plus, many people thanked me for playing music – they enjoyed sticking with us to hear the music.
• Bring Cheerios for the last lap, and use your on-board water vs stopping at the water stations (people will trip over you as they break stride to get water).
• Run hard up the hills, then walk a few paces to catch your breath, and then speed down the hill to make up time.
• Be very nice to people you pass – it is a huge morale downer to have a stroller runner pass you, especially on a hill. I always say something nice like “I wouldn’t know how to run without him” or “I’d fall over without the stroller holding me up!” or “nice pace” etc. If it’s a course you run frequently, you might hazard a guess at the splits in case the runner wants to know.
• Size up the finish area early on so you know what to expect – how well-marked the chute is, how much room you have to maneuver while they remove your race number and log your time, etc. You don’t want to get in the way of other runners trying to sprint through the line. Race organizers should also do a better job of clearing the finish area. The race I just completed had the finish line after a blind turn, and right at a parking lot entrance. Not a good place. People were also walking back upstream on the course so I had to be fairly aggressive and loud as I came around the turn to be sure they’d clear off the course as we sprinted through. I don’t enjoy having to do that. Nobody should be on course at the finish. Racers are bonking and definitely not interested in breaking stride to avoid a collision.