Three Races in Three Weeks

That's right my friends - one week from Thursday will be the start of three races in three weeks!  I have been pounding the payment quite a bit the past couple of weeks in preparation and I think I am just about ready.  Next Thursday my company will be participating in the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge.  CDPHP is the largest health insurance company in the area and every year they put on the 3.5 Miler that runs through downtown Albany.  It was a huge race - I think upwards of 10K people participate every year and they come in from all over the state (seriously - some company's rent charter buses).  The kicker is that your company has to participate as a team and you must register in teams of four.  Every year there is also a t-shirt competition!  PRA has been working on our t-shirt design for about three weeks now - it is a BIG deal!  Our t-shirts this year will be highlighting that PRA was voted #1 small workplace in the Capital Region (woot woot!  more on that later).

 

The next race will be the Survive the Farm 5K Obstacle Course.  I don't know too much about this race other than that 1) the course is through a farm, 2) there is an obstacle course component and 3) I for some reason agreed to participate.  For this race you also compete as a team of four.  I will be racing with Team Upstate/Downstate (half of our team is from Long Island).  I have heard this race is really challenging but luckily it takes place the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend which means I will have an extra day to recover.  This is the race that I am probably the most apprehensive about, I have run CDPHP and Freihofer's before so I pretty much know what to expect but this Survive the Farm is a complete mystery to me, and from what I have heard - it's tough!

 

 

The third race is one of my favorites - Freihofer's Run for Women!  This will be the third year in a row that I have run this race and I am pumped about it!  It may sound somewhat cheesy but I find the race really empowering - only women participate and  the numbers usually top out around 4K participants.  The race also attracts runners from all over the world!  As someone to starts in the middle of the pack it is nuts to see the professional runners race up the Madison Avenue hill at the start of the race.  The race also snakes through downtown Albany and finishes at the NYS Museum.  Hopefully this year we'll have nice weather (last year it rained, and then I moved into my new apartment)!   

 

 

I'll probably/I hope to run a couple more races this season but these are the big ones and the ones that are on the calendar so far!  I am opting out of the Firecracker 4 Miler this year in Saratoga but in all honesty I would really like to run a 10K at some point but we'll see how these three go first!

 

Happy running!