tell me about your first race

[ktzmoh]

bostonmichelle 's awesome recap has me thinking about my first race and wondering about your stories.

What made you want to do the race?  What kind of support did you have or not have? What were the biggest lessons learned? Was it a great race or a tough slog? Tell me! 

[ktzmoh]

My super talented running friend inspired me to try to run my first half marathon (Philadelphia half, 2009). I had some baby weight to lose, so I went for it. I raced with my amazing sister schenkertobe ( though she's a punk who never posts here), so that helped too.  She trained and trained because she's awesome and I did it in kind of a half assed way because I suck, but whatever, we were going to do it. She lived close to the start line, so we stayed at her house the night before and were going to walk to the start. Well, we should have checked the website because we screwed up the start time and very nearly missed the race. We were still walking there when we heard runners go - so we had to really run to the start line and we wound up being the very last runners through. The race people were telling us to hurry up and go LOL!

The run itself was uneventful, I remember it was my first time having a Gu and I was totally revolted by the texture. We did not finish in 2:05 like some people, but our time was totally decent at 2:18. I had this vision of my husband at the finish line cheering for me as I had just finished this thing I never thought I could possibly do, and being so proud and having signs for me and all that jazz. Of course he wasn't there. He and my BIL had been out at the bar the night before and were too hungover to even make it to the finishline. I was totally hurt at first, but now it's just become this amazing resource I can draw on anytime I need to guilt him into favors LOL! I keep teasing him that I'm going to kick his ass when we run his first half marathon this Fall, and then I'm just going to walk home and leave him to that finish line all by his lonesome. LMAO!! (I'm kidding of course, I'll totally run with him and support him the whole way, because I need to hold onto that guilt ammo as long as possible I'm a better person than that)

My lesson learned was to double check the start time so you don't have to sprint to make it through the opening gate. I would have been really pissed if we didn't get to run because we forgot the start time!

[Deleted]

My 1st race was a 10k, but I don't really remember it, ha.

My 2nd race a few years later was a marathon. I signed up on a whim to help keep me motivated to run regularly. My best friend did it as well, but we didn't run together. It was a bigger race, so it was fun running through the city and have people cheer you on. My dad was a volunteer on the race course and my mom was at the finish line, so it was nice to have their support. I felt good enough during the race to not walk at all, so I was proud of that. I then decided to sign up for another marathon about 6 months later.

[Susie]

Depends what you call my first race.

My first swim meet? I was 7 and don't really remember!

My first OWS, I was 13. I did it with a couple older, faster girls on my swim team, and our coach came. It was an out & back 1 mile in the ocean. It was a lot of lessons learned, but the actual distance was no biggie.

My first run was a 10k. I was in college, and did it with a friend who had run in high school. It was something to do in the early spring following swim season. I don't remember a ton about it, but I haven't run a 10k as fast since! (I probably finally could now, but I haven't.)

My first "adult" run was a 5k, and it was the hardest race on this list. I had to train for weeks to get up to 5k, and then on race day it was like 80-90 some degrees and super humid. It was brutal. I did it with a friend from work, and we ran it together in 32:21 or something like that! I felt like I had to do a 5k race with an actual time in order to have officially "done" a 5k, no matter how many I did at home in my neighborhood. It was part of an effort to lose 10 lbs or so (successful), and it was the very beginning of returning to sports as an adult after 3 years of law school, bar exams, and my first stressful few years of practicing.

My first tri was a super sprint a year or two later. That was when the addiction really took hold

[chw57]

First race: a kids 2-miler in 1990. My dad was running the marathon so I did the kids race with my uncle

First race I really remember: a 5 miler when I was in 8th grade. I ran it in 46 minutes, excitedly told my PE teacher, and he told me I wasn't fast and should reconsider doing cross country in high school.

First marathon: Nike women's in SF when I was 21. I was horribly undertrained and it was a slog

[schitzengiggles]

I was never a runner. Ever. Would have cracked up at the thought of it. And I was always varying degrees of overweight or obese throughout childhood, as a teenager, and in my 20's. After having my second child, my weight leveled off and I was NOT happy with where it was. I was always exhausted and uncomfortable. So I finally decided to change my lifestyle in order to lose weight and get healthy. Running was a part of that. I started slowly (10 seconds at a time jogging sloooowly on the treadmill) and signed up for a 5k that was 4 months away. Come race day, I did the 5k in 38:48, I was totally spent, and I was SO sore afterwards.

That same day somebody suggested to me that maybe I would run the half marathon at the same event the following year. I laughed at them and said "There is no way that will ever happen". I mean, I felt hooked on running, but the idea of going 13+ miles? HAAAAAA!!!
Well, guess what I did the following year? Ha!

I ended up losing 90 lbs and have maintained that for a couple of years now. I've done tons of 5ks and 6 half marathons. The only reason I haven't done a full marathon is because I've been working full time, with 2 kids, plus am a full time grad student. Once I'm done with school, and have more time to train....it's ON!

[mrshandy]

H and I did C25K together in Fall 2009. I found I was pregnant with DS the Friday before the 5K. I thought at first I shouldn't run it, but asked the doctor and he said it was fine. So I did and finished with a decent time, under 30.

[nichelobe]

I spent almost all my life overweight. When I got pregnant with my little girl almost three years ago, I was well over 200 lbs. My husband had been running local 5ks for about a year and signed up for a half marathon that he raced when I was about 3 months pregnant. I was so proud of him when he finished. I couldn't believe he'd just run over 13 miles. A couple of months later when registration opened for that same race in 2013, I asked him to sign me up for the quarter marathon. I'd never run at all, but since it was almost a year away it didn't seem so scary and I planned on walking most of it.
My daughter was born in October and several weeks later I started C25k. I don't know what lit the spark, but I actually trained for the race and ran the whole thing. I had never in my life been proud of an athletic accomplishment, and I got hooked on that feeling. In the process I lost about 70 lbs. The race itself was fantastic. I think it had around 14,000 participants, and SUCH great energy. People were so friendly and encouraging. I plan to run it every year now.

[al320]

I was not athletic until my 30s, so this is easy

I found a nice flat local 5k. I had been running outside, it was a cool spring, so i ran in yoga pants and a tank top and was always fine. The race sounded really fun, at a local airport, instead of a pace car, there was a pace plane.

Yeah, im a moron.

There is no shade on a runway in july. The sun just reflects back at you. It was hot as all fuck. And i was in YOGA pants people. All i wanted to do was break 30 minites. I came in at 29:48, and the water at the end was the best thing ever. Oh wait no, they had ice cold yoohoo, that was the best thing ever. It took 40 minutes for my heart rate to drop.

Ive never done that race again.

[Wines Not Whines]

My first race was a large 10 miler in 2008. I had been running short distances (3-5 miles) for a few years, just to stay in shape, but I never pushed myself to go farther or faster. A relative had gotten into long distance running, and he convinced me to sign up for it.

I think my longest training run was only 8 miles. I was incredibly nervous and worried about being close to last. Race day was cold and rainy. I wore cotton. I was clueless. Despite all of that, I loved it and signed up for my second race (a 10k) almost immediately afterwards. I got hooked fast!

[cinco]

I signed up for the Baltimore Marathon in 2001 and my training group said it would be a good idea to run a shorter race to prepare (ya think? Lol). I signed up for a small local 5k that I ran with my now DH. I remember having fun, but I didn't run another 5k until 2009. I started really getting into racing after I had DS in 2008.

[jordylee]

My first race was a 5k. I don't remember how old I was... maybe 5th or 6th grade? It was at a wildlife conservatory and I ran it with my grandpa. He and my grandma got really into running when I was a little kid. They lived about 15 miles from my house and every holiday, they would run to my house, shower there, then we would have a big breakfast together after. I started going on short runs with them when I was around 10 or so. I remember asking them if I could run a race with them. My grandpa ran with me and my grandma was the biggest cheerleader ever.

Ahhh, this makes me feel so bad for my grandpa that he had to give it up (about 5 yrs ago at this point), and makes me miss my grandma like crazy. Running has meant different things to me at different times in my life, but it has always been there since that point.

[bostonmichelle]

So up until Nov. 10, 2013. I was never a runner. I basically quit soccer and every single sport because running sucked and I was always overweight. I tried c25k like 1000 times in college and after and never made it thru 3 weeks.

My first race was a 5k on Nov. 10, 2013, my time was 40:56, and I walked about 90% of it. I basically started and restarted c25k 3 times that summer and never progressed at all. I signed up in September I think (?). I used to do the walk for cancer put on by the NSMC and skipped it that June because I had lost my mother suddenly a couple months before and that was something we always did and I couldn't bear to do it with her colleagues. Her old team raised a bunch of money and got a brick to put in the healing garden and dedicated it to her. I saw the flyer for the Run at the brick dedication and decided I would run the 5k. So I went out the morning of the 5k with my sister, her boyfriend and my dad. I basically ran the 1st quarter mile, about another quarter mile at the turnaround/water stop/picture place, and the last bit into the finish line. I had tried running more during it but clearly undertrained. I had a goal of under 45 mins and not to be last. After that I was hooked and decided to actually train for a couple weeks and run another on Thanksgiving.

[G22]

My first race was a 9k I ran with my dogs. I just decided running kind of sounded like a good idea, but had always hated it. So I thought if I found a run I could do with my dogs that might make it more enticing to me.

I had a ton of fun. Mostly because my dogs were there with me. lol But I went home and signed up for 10k the following month and it just went from there.

[katyintx]

Besides track and cc in high school, my first race was my junior year of college. My family decided the Phoenix RnR half sounded like a fun family activity. I have no idea why, because at that point, nobody was really into racing more than a 5k here or there. My training consisted of approximately 5 or 6 runs, probably topping off at 4 miles as my longest. Needless to say, it was awful. My first half marathon was hard, long, and I walked a LOT. I think I ended with a 2:45.

The next week I tried to avoid stairs as much as possible. And walking. And moving. I was more sore then than after my first marathon. I guess that's what the lack of training will get you!

The next half I did was 8 years later and I PR'd by 50 minutes.

[osulori]

My first race was a Turkey Trot 5 miler that my sister talked me into signing up for. I had just started working out regularly, and my version of training involved a single 5 mile run on the TM a week before the race. I think it took me...an hour?

Thanks to my sister's advice, I was outfitted properly for the race and actually managed to hang with her for most of it. The last mile is a slow incline and I started fading at that point so I started walking while she went on ahead to pass someone that we'd been trying to pass the whole race (because we didn't like her hair...stupid I know). After that, I was hooked. I started doing 5ks that following spring and the rest is history!

[sadlebred]

My first horse show was around 6th grade.

My first mountain bike race was in late summer/early fall of 1997 in SC. I won the beginner women's race. I remember that I got a $100 gift card to the LBS. I was pretty poor at the time since I moved out of my parent's house for the first time. I was able to get a second pair of shorts and a jersey. I wore those things til they were threadbare. I haven't looked back...

[taratru]

Um...high school track meet? I don't really remember.

And I've started/stopped so many times as an adult, it's really hard to keep track. My first race back after having DD3 was a New Year's Day 5K and it was 2 degrees outside. TWO. I ran a 31:01 and thought I would die. The next year I ran the same race in 22:11.

[emilyj]

I think I ran a couple Turkey Trots when I was in elementary school? I was a gymnast growing up, and then a diver in college, so my athletic endeavors never involved races.

My first race was 2011. My friend talked me in to trying an Aquabike. I joined our masters team a few months earlier, had no idea how the hell to train for anything (our coach at that point was pretty useless), and I pretty much just rode my bike around town. I did bricks leading up to the race by swimming in our neighborhood pool, then jumping out and riding my bike.

My H came with me, and rode the course the day before. That was awesome - since he knew my strengths and weaknesses on the bike, when we drove through it, he told me 'slow down, here, speed up here, watch out for this turn here, it's tricky.'

Day of the race I pretty much was ready to throw up the whole time. It was hot as hell (July in Georgia!), and the swim to bike transition was up the steepest hill. However, I ended up placing third overall, got a medal, and fell in love with finally being able to compete in something again.

ETA: That was the day my H got into doing tri's.  During the award ceremony, the final tri competitor crossed the finish line.  He was 78 years old.  My H looked at me and said "Ok.  I just sat my ass in the shade all morning, and that guy, who's 78, just ran a damn triathlon.  I have no excuse not to do this." 

[kams]

As far as bring an adult: It was a hilly 5k on a freezing St Patricks Day and I was about 98% sure I couldn't finish. I don't really remember exactly why I chose that race, and I don't really remember training (though I did). H and DD were there, and I was sure my baby would freeze before I finished.

A few years later I finished an Ironman with a smile on my face and a skip in my step

[Deleted]

I actively avoided all competitive sport in my childhood. I was into waterskiing, rollerskating, that kind of thing.

A few years ago, I was living in Manchester with my DH (boyfriend at the time) and he decided to do a 10K. He'd already done the London Marathon years ago. So I said I'd have a go at it as well.

I was stunned that I enjoyed it. And that I could actually do it. I'm still shocked by that.

[skwcm80]

I didn't become active until after I had DS in 2012, I started c25k when I was 9 weeks pp. My first race was a Color Me Rad 5k. I ran that race(as much as I could), and ran another 5k the very next weekend. I then decided to try a 10k.

During this time I remember telling someone that I would never, ever want to run a marathon. Hahaha!

[ddi741]

My first 5k was March 2013.  Our Local St. Patrick's Day race.   A friend had signed up and I joked that I would do it with her. I don't know why I said that, or why I signed up.  I was litterally freaking out on race day - I was terrified of throwing up, falling, you name it.  I had a terrible fear of running in public, I had started couch to 5k  in January but due to some family emergencies, stopped in early Feb. 

Race day came, I told my H to expect me in an hour and a half.  Friend and I started and I was very clear to her to NOT wait for me, just go run your race.  It was all up hill once we started, I made it about a quarter mile before I had to walk, we did the frist mile in 13 minutes (friend stayed with me the whole time), The second mile was down hill and we did it in 11, 3rd mile kicked my ass. I walked pretty much all of it.  Finally, we were near the finish line, I wanted to run the last .1 but could barely breathe.  I walked and finally got enough energy to run across the finish line.  I finished in 39 minutes. I was so happy. I didn't find out my time until it was over because I was smiling for my H's camera as I crossed the finish line.    
I did 6 races last year, I have done 3 this year and am signed up for 2 more.  Still can't run a full 5k but that is my goal and I get better with every race.
Funny thing I learned is that if I am doing a race with friends, I run slower than if I'm doing it alone.  I'm not sure why.  Even if said friend is faster.

[shauni27]

My first race was a local 5K in 2011. I wanted to prove to myself that I could run 3 miles and I had the full support of my family. My parents came and made signs, and a cousin ran it with me. Another cousin cheered for me and treated me to a pedicure after. I was hooked. I completed it in about 32 minutes and I wanted to continue racing to get faster and see the distanced I could do. I have now done 5 halves, 2 10Ks, and too many 5Ks and 4-5 milers to count.

[Deleted]

The first race I remember running was the Udder Run in Goodhue Minnesota in 1987. I remember I want to pack a sports drinks, completed the one-mile kids run, and my dad was so pissed that a 17-year-old beat him in the 5K.