Harvest Hustle Fun Run!

Today my sister, Susan and I ran a 5k race in Rockford, Washington. It's about 16 miles southeast of Spokane with a population of490 people. I actually heard about it on the Spokane news so we really didn't know how many people to expect. So when we pulled up to where the race was going to start, we were a little surprised to see about 10-15 people! When the race started there was probably a total of 25 people. In our minds, we kept comparing it to the Laurel, MT race we did on the 4th of July. And we had to laugh because I don't think we expected a race to be any smaller than the one in Laurel! Susan and I ran together and got the same time: 28:49. We took 4th and 5th place for overall women. And probably 8th and 9th for the overall race.
Some funny comparisons I thought of between the Laurel race and the Rockford race:

Laurel: population 6,255
Rockford: population 489

Laurel: about 100 racers
Rockford: about 25 racers

Laurel: orange cones and flags marking the starting line and finish line
Rockford: the race officiator said," The starting line is over there (pointing)... where the dark pavement meets the light pavement."

Laurel: cups of water at the turnaround / water and oranges at the end of the race
Rockford: no water, no food ..... anywhere

Laurel: large time clock at the finish line
Rockford: lady at the finish line, holding a stop watch and smoking a cigarette

Laurel: Plaques and ribbons for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, for about 6 diff. age groups
Rockford: Ribbons for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place in overall men and women's groups (we just barely missed getting ribbons for overall women! Darn it!). "Prizes" (misc. items in a box to choose from) for age groups 5-10, 10-18, and 19+. We couldn't believe that out of 25 people, we walked away with no award! Boo hoo.

Laurel: Nice people and a fun run with family.
Rockford: Nice people and a fun run with Susan.... oh, and an old guy running in cut off jean shorts (think daisy dukes).


All jokes aside... it was a very fun run! Considering the size of the town, they did a good job! The course was very pretty and I enjoyed the scenery. And we didn't have to run up any hills either! Everyone there was very nice and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think I'm starting to like the small town races because you actually feel like you have a chance of doing well. Next race... the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day!