Brandon Russell’s Flash Dash 5K

Saturday, May 19, was the second annual Brandon Russell’s Flash Dash 5k. This race is named after and in honor of a young man who collapsed and died after crossing the finish line of a half marathon in 2017. Proceeds from this race went to benefit the Brandon Russell Memorial Foundation and Children’s Mercy Heart Center.

Packet pick up and one of the race sponsors was a local restaurant and recreation center venue. I had not visited it before, but it looked to be a fun and interesting place. It certainly was jumping on a warm, sunny Friday evening.

After packet pick up, we drove the race route. I was glad we did since it had a lot of turns and basically zig-zagged through town. The one thing this part of town is known for is being flat, and it was proving to be a flat course with only slight declines and inclines.

Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of rain. At least it was warm enough that we wouldn’t freeze to death if we got wet. I got ready and went to the race expecting it to rain all through the race. At least by this time it had become a very light rain.

As we waited for the race to begin, people were trying to stay as dry as possible by taking refuge under trees and tents. I found a tree to huddle under and was immediately reminded of an article I read the night before (complete with videos) on why it wasn’t a good idea to stand under a tree during a thunderstorm. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t actually a thunderstorm–everything would be fine.

And it was.

God showed us all favor by bringing the rain to an end right at race time. It still remained cloudy, which was really nice since it was warm and very humid. Sunshine would’ve meant a steam bath.

There was the young mom with the double stroller.  I don’t know who these moms are, but they’re at every race.  I pointed her out to my friends and said, “You just wait, she’s going to pass us.”

If you remember, my April race was cancelled. So, I had not actually run a race since March.  In fact, I had been running short distances and only had a few recent times that I had run three miles.  I was expecting this one to hurt.

And it did.

The mom with the double stroller passed me, but we all finished!

Afterwards there was a kids run that was really cute because the kids all got a yellow cape to wear.  All runners, including the kids, also got a free breakfast from Chris Cakes.  Yumm!  Most importantly, it was a good time with friends.

for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  Matthew 5:45b

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