Rylee's Run 5k **Recap**

"Rylee’s Run 5k commemorates the life of Rylee Rae Vinson, who was born August 16, 2007, at thirty-two (32) weeks and passed away eight (8) days later due to complications of premature birth. Rylee’s parents, Jason and Jessica Vinson, established the RIBS soccer tournament in 2010 and Rylee's Run 5K in 2012 to help raise money for the hospital that has meant so much to them over the last several years - the Le Bonheur Children's Hospital Neuroscience Institute and NICU."    -Rylee's Run 5k

This was our first time participating in this event, and it certainly won't be our last. I love that the race was completely inside the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. There is only one way in/out and it's closed during the race. Most of the race is on the paved trail winding between the fields with portions on the road through the complex. It's great that the race is fully contained because there is ZERO traffic around the race route, keeping us safe for the duration of the event.

There were over 300 participants this year. I was surprised at how big the event was! Despite the amount of participants, the field seemed to spread out quickly, and we didn't have any issues navigating traffic. I tried to stay out of the way due to the jogging stroller I was pushing, but at the same time, I wanted to beat my goal so I ran the tangents as often as possible. I started way too fast, which is very typical of race day. I was aiming at 14:30 min/mi pace. That would put us across the finish line at 44:00. However, I glanced at my watch for the first time at the .5mi and we were running at 9:50 min/mi pace, which is entirely too fast! I knew I was in for a serious workout at that point. I had to walk way more than I wanted to, but I made sure to keep my walking pace up. Did I mention I was pushing a stroller with 100lbs of offspring? Ya, that was exhausting.

The race ended with a 1/2 lap around the big soccer field, on the grass. I was hoping so much that the grass was dry and not damp. Thankfully, it's a professional field so it's designed in a way as to shed water off the field and we were able to run on dry ground near the out-of-bounds line. I tried to hustle the last 0.1mi, but as hard as I pushed the stroller just wouldn't go any faster. The grass won. We finished strong though and headed to the post race grub.

This is one of best post race celebrations I've ever been to for a 5k race. They had free pasta from Venice Kitchen. I didn't get any but the girls said it was great! They had plenty of fruit, snacks, froyo, and drinks to choose from. There was also a kids area with bounce houses and slides. The girls loved that!

All in all, this race was one of my favorites ever. I've been out of the race scene for a while, but this one was fantastic! Location, celebration, course, support, food, kindness. All these qualities describe this event. We will be back next year.

41:44