CrossRoads Blog

“This weeks race” (almost seems the proper way to say it lately seeing we have been finding a local run almost every weekend the last month or so) was the Safe Baby Haven 5K. We chose this one over some other options for a couple of reasons. First the cause seemed pretty good. Safe Baby Haven is an organization out there to promote the Safe Baby Haven Law that allows protection for unwanted newborns. Basically gives the mother an opportunity to relinquish the baby at birth without fear of legal and criminal consequences. You can check out the site by clicking here at Arizona Safe Baby Haven. Second reason was the event is really just up the street from us. We can hop on the 101 and be there within 15 minutes or so. Add that to a nice (late) 8:00 start and it meant we could actually ‘sleep in’ until 5:45. We also liked that the event was at Westgate, the new(er) Sports and Entertainment complex in Glendale that houses the Coyotes and Cardinals stadiums and a bunch of stores, restaurants, a movie theater, etc.

The event production was handled by Red Rock Company. They seemed to do a real good job, it was even chip timed (some old school ones). I have not seen them do this type event, they seem to be more the ‘local triathlon event production company’. Maybe some personal tie-in, not sure? The course was decent, nice and flat for the most part. A great starting and finishing location right by the fountains. You run out to the end of the complex, a little loop back and some zig-zags in the parking lot (the only weird spot) and back. There were no real squish spots save for the first little bit where they wanted everyone on the sidewalk – but you could go out on the street too without compromising the mileage.

For the second week in a row we got to see an amazing young (14 years old) runner tear up the track. Sarah Fakler I believe is her name and it will be interesting to see how she does if she keeps at it. She did sub 6 minute miles again at this race. I’m not sure on the whole age-grade thing but that has to be National Class level speed for her age. She seems to run so easy too. This race had a young man also rip it up. I think his name was Oscar and he had a 5:54 Pace and he is 15! Ahh to be young again….

Kimberly and I had a respectable run. Kimberly came in first in her age group and I came in second and 11th overall with a 6:51 pace. Sadly, there was no “medal bling” at this event (for age group winners) but there was a very cool shirt. The actually customized the event shirts with your name and bib number which I thought was way cool. We also liked the bi-plane fly-overs which was also very cool. Hard to beat the whole thing for a good wake up Sunday morning. Oh and BTW, we needed more miles so we went off and did another 8 after the race. And yes.. there was a nap in the afternoon

Note to self – Never plan a get together celebration dinner party thing the night before you have to get up early for a morning race. This is particularly true when the party crowd happens to be Belly Dancers.

Kimberly and I ran in the Kids Camp USA 5K race this weekend. Considering with the above mentioned get together at our house we both ended up with about 3 hours or less sleep, I think we did pretty good. Heck, we did good just getting up at 5:40 seeing our heads didn’t even see a pillow until after 1:00.

Anyway, enough of the complaining (err excuses), we had a great time both at the race and of course with the friends at the get-together. Kids Camp USA seems a great cause. We of course found the race, then found the group behind it. Kids Camp sponsors various events for young ones such as (what this event was supporting) a camping trip to Apache Lake for 100 plus kids. There is no criteria per se for the kids to attend, just youngin’s in need of some adult support for a good time. They really seem like a good group and we will for sure see what we can do to help ongoing.

The 5K was at Thunderbird Paseo Park. One of our favorite venues as it is fairly close to home, is in the SPR canal, and makes for a good out and back track. A couple mini hills up on the course but nothing drastic. The event was run by Arizona Running Events Company and as always, good folks who make these small races as professional and fun as possible.

The race itself was fairly typical, although it ended up being a tad short for a 5K. My Garmin showed 2.8 miles and in fact when they posted the Results they listed it as 2.8. While I do look down on occasion at my Garmin timing watch, I had not for the last mile or so. You can imagine my surprise seeing as I was coming up to the finish line and seeing a little over 19 minutes (I’m not that fast in a 5K)!

Again with the qualifiers, the Mrs. and I had good runs. I think I felt as rough as I have during a run for quite some time, but still managed to come in 8th overall (19:30) though I was 4th in my age group (dang old guys need to stay home ). Kimberly took home the “Bling” for the family with a 3rd place medal in her age group. I told she was a rock star – 3 hours sleep and still getting in on the metal action!

After enjoying the post race festivities and grabbing the medal, we hung out and did another 7-8 miles or so in the canal – got to keep up with those long runs you know. And of course, as always, there was a Sunday nap…

By Kimberly

Dinner in the Desert with the Flowers and S.O (that’s Significant Others in Blog lingo).

On Saturday night we hosted a Texas BBQ themed dinner to celebrate the Macy’s Day Parade Entry DVD that my dance troupe The Desert Flowers recently performed in. (As a side note special thanks to all who helped out so much in the making of the DVD and the setting up of the church for the event.) Michael made some awesome Texas Brisket and chopped chicken and even some great homemade slaw. We had a nice dinner and then, as per normal with the Flowers and friends, did a bit of drinking. It was a fun evening and….no one ended up in the pool, which was a big bonus considering that its still a little nippy and non too sparkling!

Sorry no pictures gallery link yet until we do some editing - iffin’ (Texas talk) you know what I mean

By Kimberly

On March 18th the Desert Flowers performed at the Desert Gardens Church Fellowship Hall. The church was kind enough to allow the show in their facility and many members attended the show. The performance was recorded in order to put together a promotional DVD for our Macy’s Day Parade Application as well as for other events. There were quite a few practice nights set aside prior to the performance . We had some unique Bollywood style dances as well as Gypsy style dances and some more traditional belly dance. The Desert Flowers brought in Desserts for the evening to treat all attendees. It felt like a successful event and was a lot of fun.

Here’s hoping we are spending thanksgiving in Manhattan! -

PICTURES FROM SHOW HERE
THE VIDEO (will add link when online)

Luckily this year we were not traveling during the now world famous Mr. and Mrs. Lucky’s “ 103rd Annual Chili Festival” (also known as the great party our friends Dan and Debbie Creed throw every year around Saint Patrick’s Day). We missed it last year as we were playing Grandma and Grandpa in Oklahoma so we were really looking forward to diggin’ into that Green (among other) Chili, hanging with good friends, listening to the guys jam, and letting the hair down a little.

As expected, a most excellent night was had. Mr. and Mrs. Lucky know how o throw a party! More food and drink than could be finished in 5 nights, outstanding live Music (oh yeah, Dan and his band Blooster and the Mighty Mighty Hot Wings are one of the best local Blues acts around), and good friends. We got the beads hanging and are already looking forward to the 104th Annual get together! (FYI: my chili tally for the night - downed 3 bowls of Green and 1 Red).

Today Kimberly and I competed in the Kiwanis Litchfield Park 10K. It was about a perfect race scenario as far as they go. The event was fairly close as we are only about 30 minutes or so away from Litchfield Park. The race was a 10K which is really the ideal length for us as we like to get at least this length run in on the weekend. With a 5K we still need to do another run. With a 10K we can justify ‘good enough’. It was also a perfect day weather wise. A little nippy, but not too cold. In other words, a great day for a morning run.

We got to the event with a little time to spare, got a great parking spot and headed over to check in. The event was being held right in the heart of Litchfield over by the Wigwam Resort area. They really had a nice setup with some vendors, a huge food supply and ‘real’ bathrooms even as it was right next to the community park and center for the Kiwanis. We hung in the park for a bit checked out a couple of the vendors, and listened to some Navel officers.

The course basically winds through the neighborhoods there and is an out and back. The 10K went off first, as they also offered a 5K, and even a 1 mile fun run afterward. While decently marked it seemed, there was some issues with the track though (covered below). The course was near pure flat, and I mean flat, I think my Garmin showed less than a couple hundred feet net elevation change for the whole race.

Kimberly and I both had good runs. Kimberly had a PR time for a 10K of 53:46. She was booking, I was going to take a shot of her crossing the line and nearly missed it (as you can see from the photo in our gallery) because she came in faster than I was expecting! I had a 7:12 pace (44:42) which was good enough for 12th overall place and a 2nd place metal in my age group. Sadly, the first 4 or 5 guys were disqualified (I would have been in 3rd instead if they were not) because they missed a turn on the course. I feel bad for them because obviously they did not intend this and put in a good effort either way. I think one of those cases where 1 person misses a turn and the others in the lead pack follow. For those of us back a little and more spread out, less of an issue.

In any event, another great local weekend race that we will be sure to attend next year. The shirts were pretty cool too…