remembered the camera, forgot the card!

I made sure the camera was charged for todays Turkey Trot. I really wanted to take a pix of my timing chip. Alas, the picture is from borrowed from the net. I brought the camera, but forgot the memory card. It wouldn't even turn on. Big fat bummer.

So we met at the Luckenbach Mill. There was almost 1000 people walking and running. Well, mostly running. They had a photographer, one of those sites where they charge you a lot for the pictures, rather than the free downloaded from Flickr/Picassa sites. Oh well.

Since Sharon picked up my race packet I just needed to pick up the chip. It attached to my shoe with a twist tie. They cut it off at the end of the race. It supposed to make it fairer.

From About.com:

Chip time is another way of saying "net time," or the actual amount of time it takes a runner to go from the starting line of a race to the finish line.  ... When you register for a race, you receive your "borrowed" chip, programmed with your information, at the same time you get your race bib. The chip usually attaches to your shoelaces, although some are connected to a Velcro strap that goes around your ankle. At the end of the race, someone will be there to collect the chip from you.

As you move across a special mat at the starting line, the chip registers that you've started the race. Then, as you cross the finishing line, the chip registers that you've finished the race. So, in other words, the amount of time that it takes you to reach the starting line (since most people are not right at the front of the race) doesn't count in your overall time. ... Your chip time is different than your "gun time," which is the amount of time it took you to finish the race from the moment the gun (or horn) went off.

I was cold waiting for the race to start. I had on long underwear top, athletic shirt, and my race tee on. On top of that I had my black athletic jacket. My fuzzy hat from Barb, a pink scarf and pink gloves. The jacket went around my waist at mile one. I wanted to take off another layer but didn't.

They moved the starting line from other years, so everybody who was waiting got crunch backwards, mixing up the runners and walkers. I could tell from his tee shirt that one of the runners was a Marine. He had one leg and one of those funky hook legs for running. There was also fire people in full gear, and an assortment of people with turkey hats.

I didn't here the start, but people started moving. I didn't notice a mat at the start, but there could have been one. I ran the first block or so because if I didn't I would have been crushed to death. Survival.

Finish time 52:23. I'm fine with that. It's a hilly course and I stink on hills.

It felt odd doing a 5K without Bonnie. Maybe next week she can come.