“You think I’m crazy because of how much I run? Trust me, if I didn’t run this much, that’s when you’d see crazy.”

Since my last blog, less than a week ago, I’ve run three races. I also had a big change in plans for one of those races that ended up being two.

Now that I’ve confused everyone with so many numbers, I’ll explain. My week in races:

Thursday – CCRI 5k
There’s a local organization in the Fargo-Moorhead area called CCRI, which serves those in the community with disabilities. An annual event CCRI puts on is the Superhero 5k. It’s a chance for adults and children to participate in the event, some who just need a little help and encouragement along the way. Others tho are physically unable to walk or run and need extra help to take part.

Team Reese at the finish line.

A friend of mine volunteers for CCRI and I mentioned I would of course sign up for the race to support the group – and because I love a good fall race. He asked if I would be interested in pushing a wheelchair while I ran too. Without hesitation, I said yes. How great would that be, to support the cause AND share the fun of racing a 5k with someone who otherwise wouldn’t be able to do it. Nevermind I had never pushed a wheelchair for an entire race, even if I had to jog or walk, I would get that person across the finish line.

It was an incredible experience. The wheelchair runners were organized by a group called Ainsley’s Angles, a national group that just started a chapter in the Red River valley. Each wheelchair participant was assigned two Ainsley’s Angels runners (so we could trade off pushing – it’s hard work, especially turns); my teammate and I got to help a boy named Reese, who was excited from the minute I met him. All throughout the course, fellow runners were cheering for Reese. When we pushed him across the finish line and the crowd cheered for him even louder, I was beaming. It was so fun to see all the support for every participant. Something I hope to be able to do again.
Saturday – Dick Beardsley 10k
I had originally planned to race the Roger Maris 10k on Saturday. However, I found out the race was actually being held on Friday, not Saturday as in years past. I had already committed to the CCRI race on Thursday and volunteering for the Roger Maris fundraiser event on Friday. Between that and other plans for the weekend, it wasn’t in the cards to make the logistics work.

Good news though, I’d still be able to support Roger Maris through volunteering and I could now race the Dick Beardsley 10k on Saturday morning and run the 5k later that morning (it sounded like a great idea when I was registering in my pjs). I had participated in the DB run a few times in the past, so I was happy to race it again and support another good, local race.

It turned out to be a great race. I ran the 10k in 43:56 (my second best 10k time ever). I ended up taking second overall for women and the best part was it was a great race between myself, and the third and fourth place finisher. The girl who took third was on my tail the entire time; it was great, she really pushed me to keep up the pace. The fourth place finisher started out in second but ran out of steam around mile 4 – we chatted a little during and after the race, and she was so nice. The winner blew us all away. In her time of 38 and change, she blew away most of the guys too. I’ve raced her before and she’s awesome, just ridiculously fast. #respect

After the race, I stretched out and watched the half marathon finishers start to roll in. I quickly realized there was a slight flaw in my plan to run two races the same morning. I finished the 10k around 8:30 a.m. The 5k didn’t start until 11. That left me a solid 2+ hours to hang out in my sweaty race clothes which got riper and smellier as the time passed. Also, it was a chilly morning; great for racing, not so great when all the sweat dries and chills the body. I was shivering most of the time up until it was time to run again.
Saturday – Dick Beardsley 5k
Time to run again – that’s right, I signed up for another race that day. Okay, no problem, I got this. I met two guys at the start line who noticed I was also wearing the special bib, for the people who had already run a race earlier that day. We joked that we were glad to not be the only ones who thought this was a good idea! All joking aside, I was excited for another race. I was understandably a little fatigued from the hard run earlier that morning but I was well-conditioned enough I could handle three more miles. I figured, why not try to run fast too? So I did. Although I couldn’t keep up the same pace as earlier in the 10k, my legs felt really heavy and it had warmed up quite a bit, I still finished in third place overall (first place age group!) in a respectable time of 23:11. The best part was, I was in second place the first two miles then just got smoked by an 11-year-old girl in the last mile. I wanted to give her a high five and tell her how awesome she was for running #LikeAGirl but she burned by me too damn fast.

A big medal for a big day of racing.

My parents were waiting at the finish line to congratulate me and, in addition to my 10k and 5k finisher medals, I got a special medal for running “The Beardsley Duo.” It’s ginormous and just might make my Run Like A Girl medal holder fall right off the wall. All in all, I’d for sure do the two-a-day race thing again. It was a really fun morning, full of what I love – racing! And, I got to enjoy a nice relaxing day at the lake after capped off with my post-race staple: a Jimmy John’s veggie sub.

Now time to gear up for the Fargo Mini-Marathon in October. A perfect time to run a half marathon and get the most out of the fall season and fall racing that I love so much.

Have you ever run multiple races in a week – or even the same day? If not, would you go for it? Comment or tweet me @runlikeagirl311 on Twitter.