Race Rewind Recap - 2014 Races

Haven't blogged in almost a year and I figure I should catch up on all the races... before I forget what happened. So here it is in one neat blog post:

• 2014 COMMON 5K - May 4, 2014, Orlando, Florida: My work sent me to the COMMON conference which happens to always have a 5K the first day. The course was around the perimeter of the Universal Studios Orlando park and on some paths around the Loews Hotel. I signed up the day of, not expecting too much (since I taken second the last COMMON 5K). It was a strong start with three contenders. The course was confusing and we all got lost. I was declared the winner and made two great friends in the process.

• 2014 Survivor Mud Run - June 7, 2014, Carnation Washington: My buddy talked me in to running this one as he had ran it the year before. I was still recovering and didn't expect too much (again). The course was rather difficult but I found some energy half way through and finished a respectable third behind my best buddy, John. Lesson learned: know the course and start pushing earlier.

Stopping the Garmin as I cross the finish line

• 2014 Bavarian Battle - June 21, 2014, Leavenworth, Washington: One of my favorite races and also the last year it was ran. I was a little more confident after the last race. Same basic course as last year and was able to scout it out since it's in my buddy's back yard (basically). Ran a decent race but got beat by a cross country kid, second place overall. Lesson learned: run faster next time.

Melissa was first female, I was second male, Jack was third male

• 2014 Omak Warrior Stampede - August 15, 2014, Omak, Washington: The last of the three races in the North Central Washington Obstacle Course Race series. I had placed second in the other two so I was looking for a repeat as the NCW OCR champ (last year I was 1st, 1st, and 3rd). We planned a family camping trip to go along with the race. Same course as the year before, same competitors too, and unfortunately, the same result. I came in third. Lesson learned: run faster next time - I guess I didn't learn it.

Cruising in for a third place finish

• 2014 Shore to Shore Half Marathon - September 6, 2014, Chelan, Washington: Turned out to be my last race of the year on the same course I had BQ'ed the year before. The nice part was that I already knew the half-marathon part because it was the final 13.1 miles of the marathon. Happily finished second overall and got some cool swag to go along with a good finish.