What a perfect day for the Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k & Chili Cook Off!!!
We had been having 40 and 50 degree days on and off all January and I was starting to get nervous... this race has earned it's name for a reason.
Well, Mother Nature must have known the event was on Saturday because she opened up a nice winter storm and dumped a good 4 inches on us. I got to the race site at 7am after I finished plowing my accounts and plowed the sidewalks and parking lot so hopefully it would be clear for race time.
Getting there early to clear out the pavilion area.
Shoveled the registration area.
Heather and I arrived back at the pavilion around 10:30 am to get everything set up and start the fire. It was 22 deg. F. out and the wind had a bite to it.
We got everything set up and awaited the arrival of the participants. I had A LOT of interest and inquiries so I was not sure who to expect or how many people. Turns out that I think the weather scared off the majority of people interested. It isn't called the Blue Balls and Glass Cutters for no reason... completing this event is an earned title that is not earned easily!!!
Toby, our race mascot! (I thought Mandy came up from
Maine when I saw him!!!) What a HAPPY snow LOVING
pup!
This is where he spent almost all day.
Getting ready to line up and start.
Heather giving out some of the rules.
Last minute stretching... or warming by the fire haha.
Everyone showed up and we had a pre-race meeting explaining the course and explaining that it is a prediction run, no watches and closest guess wins. We lined up, and we were OFF!
While running the paved trail was covered w/ snow and it was not nice heavy packing snow that is easy to run on, it was the slippery stuff, so we all migrated over to the road and used that as the race course. Along the way there was a lot of singing, chatting, and of course shenanigans!
At the turn around point there were high fives being thrown around, an all around great vibe for the race. I added 2 minutes on my predicted time because I assumed I would have stuck to the snowy trails... something I soon regretted as we migrated to the cleared road. I maintained a nice steady pace up the hill (first half of the course is all uphill). However, when I returned back, I walked whenever a car passed to try and slowly add on 2 minutes to my guessed time. I thought I would have been close to my predicted time as I came in but had a feeling I was still too fast.
As I approached the final 1/8th mile, I started to do kart wheels the whole way in. I was doing anything I could to try and slow down aside from walking more haha.
Well everyone came in just fine and the results were completely ABSURD!
| Participant | | Prediction | Completion | Difference |
| Ashley | | 0:37:37 | 0:37:13 | 0:00:24 |
| Matt | | 0:32:00 | 0:30:38 | 0:01:22 |
| Joe | | 0:35:00 | 0:32:12 | 0:02:48 |
| Susan | | 0:37:32 | 0:35:12 | 0:02:20 |
| Jim | | 0:27:00 | 0:24:40 | 0:02:20 |
| Milena | | 0:38:00 | 0:37:21 | 0:00:39 |
| Jon | | 0:35:20 | 0:27:05 | 0:08:15 |
| Mike | | 0:25:15 | 0:25:21 | 0:00:06 |
| David | | 0:37:00 | 0:35:45 | 0:01:15 |
| Ben | | 0:29:00 | 0:31:29 | 0:02:29 |
| Erica | | 0:30:00 | 0:31:43 | 0:01:43 |
| Jason | | no guess | 0:31:48 | |
As you can see from the results, I was BLOWN AWAY by the winner!!! Mike finished just a MERE 6 seconds off of his prediction?! I have never heard of this before in a prediction run! Ashley took 2nd and Milena took 3rd! It was a great race and the first place winner got a Fleet Feet gift card, running hat and running gloves! 2nd and 3rd took home gift cards as well.
Nat and Tim on the left, Mike on the right w/ the 1st
place prizes.
Ashley w/ her 2nd place finish!
This is me claiming to not have rigged the results. Initially
I was in second place haha.
Jim, Erica and Jason.
Jon, Mike, David.
Jason and Ben.
Final shot for Team in Training! (everyone else is
stuffing their face w/ chili). My shoes on the table
in the front were stolen by Toby... poor guy, those
were from last season too. I hope he doesn't get sick
;) haha.
After the race was over it was right on to the chili judging and spiced rum cider enjoying :)
We had 6 entrants for the chili cook off.
Matt w/ a vegetarian chili (super spicy)
Heather w/ a turkey chili
Joe w/ a vegetarian chili
Tim/Nat w/ a beer/meat chili
Susan w/ meat/italian sausage chili
Ashley w/ a meat chili
I was astounded by the fact that each chili tasted completely different. They were all absolutely wonderful!!! It was actually very difficult to judge the chili. I kept my favorite in my head and then would try it off and on as I was switching to make sure I had a fair comparison. I actually think food judging is ridiculously difficult haha.
Well it was a GREAT time had by all, a lot of good conversation, catching up w/ friends and making new friends.
When people were getting ready to head out we tallied up the chili votes. It ended up as a two way tie for 1st and for 3rd!!! haha. So we only had prizes for the winner and the runner up. So they settled on choosing one behind Heather's back and that was the prize they got :) Susan and Natalie tied for 1st place while Heather and Joe tied for 3rd place. Mine got zero votes :( haha. Apparently I suck at the art of chili.
All in all it was a WONDERFUL event. I am glad Heather and I took it big time this year and actually went and made this an event. It was a decent fund raiser (I am kind of lying, we broke even w/ prizes and donations haha) but was an even better time just chilling by the fire and drinking some hard cider.
The only casualty of the day was the entire bottle of rum... I am shocked we drank the whole thing. I guess we all needed a quick warm up!
I would like to take this moment to thank EVERYONE for coming out and supporting this race... which supports a great cause. I plan on hosting this every year and if I break even every year, I will still put the proceeds towards charity. It was a great afternoon!
Thanks for reading! I look forward to seeing YOU here next year for the 3rd annual Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5k!!!
