This race was at the old Playboy club in Lake Geneva. It's a 5 miler. The weather/sky was dark and dreary. It was seriously cold at the start and very windy. Picture lot's of runners gathering around each other, trees, small buildings etc. to get out of the wind. The race is not chip timed so those who start near the back are at a disadvantage.
The race started with a gun and everyone was anxious to get moving to warm up. I started too far back and had a slow first mile (6:50) and was passing a lot for the first mile or two and trying to get a good draft off my brother Ryan. The roads were wide, no ice, and very little traffic. Because of the temps- the only non-volunteer spectators were at the finish near the hotel.
After hill leading up to the turnaround, the wind was mostly at our backs and everyone had settled in to their paces. I tried hard to close the gap and draft some more off my brother, but it wasn't happening, and instead I got stuck all by myself for the second half-and watched a nice pack in front of me that was out of reach.
This was my first time at this race, and I didn't realize how long the hill was just before the finish. As I was climbing (and struggling to breathe) I heard cheers for my friend from Sheboygan (and past sausage dance champion) beyond me. I had finished just in front of her at the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving and hoped to do it again. After cresting the hill, there is a nice decent along the hotel and into the finish. I finished strong and didn't get passed.
Overall, it was a nice winter race and I finshied about 33 minutes and about 1 minute behind Ryan. The party afterwards was great, Ryan got first in his age and a pic with the bunnies, and the Sausage dance champ got second in the dance this year. (See pics above).
Overall it was a great race
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