(I'm right behind #3699 in my Hawaiian shirt and shorts.)
2010 Midnight Sun 10k Run Checklist
✔ Dress in costume - Hawaiian Tourist with sunscreen on nose works for me.
✔ Run in daylight at 10pm - Bright as noon!
✔ Run sub-6:00 opening mile - 5:51
✔ Actually dress in costume and run with leaders - First costumed runner to finish.
✔ Unexpectedly get pelted by water guns and balloons by kids AND adults - Made me think I was on an episode of Wild & Crazy Kids.
✔ Run through several sprinklers in sketchy neighborhoods. - Did I mention run fast through sketchy neighborhoods with crazy drunk parties?!
✔ Be told “Aloha!” about 100 times. Respond with the “hang loose” sign.
✔ Be told “The Boatel’s THAT WAY!” by a drunk standing in the bed of his raised Chevy mud-bogging truck. Respond by ignorning the comment. (Click link for details on this one-of-a-kind Fairbanks establishment.)
✔ Get passed by guy running barefoot. - With his feet slapping the ground, all he said was, “How ya doin?” I was waiting for some broken beer bottles to be on the route at some point. Evil, I know.
✔ Get beat by a few high schoolers. - Helps put me in my place.
✔ Finish sub-38:00 - Finished within top-20 in ~37:37 out of about 4,000 runners.
✔ Get liquids past finish line - Couple that with fresh watermelon and oranges.
✔ Stand and stretch while watching hilariously costumed runners crossing the finish line. - A giraffe and zebra, The Incredibles, The Beetles (yes, three girls in beetle costumes carrying two cardboard guitars and drum sticks).
✔ Walk back to truck to head home - Nothing like walking to a hip-hop version of “Candy Man” blasting from a children’s ice cream truck with a driver who looked like a meth dealer on Breaking Bad.
✔ Laugh to oneself, establish the night as a success, and go for a long, recovery run tomorrow.
