Dogwood 5K & Festival

Molly and I ran the Dogwood 5K this past weekend. This was the fourth year in a row that I'd ran it and it was also my first race of 2014. I have been running some over the past few months in preparation for the Cap City Half Marathon this coming weekend, but not as much as I should have been. Work has been really busy and going to the gym at 10pm to run 3+ miles just doesn't always happen.

I was super excited that Molly wanted to run it with me this year. She has been a workout diva these past few months and you can see the results. She isn't a big runner though, so there were points throughout the race where I hung back or ran a little slower to keep her going and not let her walk. It worked for the most part.

It wasn't my best time ever, but I did ok. I stopped once to tie my shoe and once to get a drink from our neighbor! (They don't have water stops along this course. booo!) I ended up at 35:35 and Molly finished right at 36. I thought for a split second she was going to ramp it up and pass me, but she didn't! #bigsisforthewin

Surprisingly, this year they did age division awards and she and I got 2nd and 3rd places in the 17-29 age group. Next year I'll be racing in the 30-39 age group! NOOOOO!!

After we recovered from the race, we went home and headed down to the actual festival to watch the Cutest Baby contest. OMG....I never felt more competent to be a parent in my life. There were whining, crying kids everywhere. Parents chasing and screaming at them. And the things these people wrote down to be announced!?!?! Chocolate should not be your 5 month old baby's favorite food!

We also hung out with our Pop for a while in the back of the fire house. This was his 44th year of thawing fish for their fish fry. It wouldn't be the Dogwood Festival without him coming home in the evenings smelling of fish. :)

We said "smile". He did, but never looked up!

Fire trucks lined up for the parade!

This festival is definitely growing to what it once was.There were a few years where it was not a successful festival at all, but with new members on the committee who are excited to get involved, it's becoming bigger and better!