rex lee run!

Last Saturday was the Rex Lee Run, which is a 5k/10k run put on by the Cancer Research Center.  Because the Cancer Research Center is kind of a part of the Chemistry Dept, we secretaries decided we would do the run to show a little support.  Actually, I think what happened was that last year after the run, my boss Sue was like, "Hey, we should do the run next year." and I was like, "Oh yeah, sure. That would be fun." I totes wasn't being serious, but then Sue never forgot about that.  And so then I guess I was committed. Dang it...jk.

The week leading up to the race had some pretty good weather but the forecast was telling us that a snow storm was coming and ain't nobody got time for a snow storm on race day.  So when we all went to bed on Friday we hoped and prayed that we wouldn't see snow when we woke up, but it was not meant to be.  Saturday morning came and the first thing I did was look out the window to see the snow falling gently.  Well, dang it.  So I put on my pants and then another layer of pants and then I put on my shirt and then my coat and then I was like, wait I'm an idiot and so I put on another layer under my shirt.  And then I headed off to the race.  Mind you, this was the night after the Imagine Dragons concert, so as you might remember I was pretty tired plus we didn't really have any food thanks to the whole fridge incident.  So being the tricky trickster that I am, the night before I had chosen not to wash my face.  This way when I woke up I would still have some remnants of makeup on (specifically mascara) and then the I-just-rolled-out-of-bed look wasn't so obvious although let's be honest, it was still obvious.  This was a trick that I learned a couple years ago when I worked on Saturday mornings in the Chem office and because I was afraid professors might actually come in I wanted to have at least a little makeup on, but I really didn't want to wake up more than 20 minutes before I needed to be at work.  Works like a charm.

Anyway, I got to the race and met up with the other secretaries who were all far more prepared than I was (i.e. they already had their numbered bibs on and the timing chip tied to their shoes).  So I quickly tried to get my bib on and ended up getting it on so off-centered you would have thought I let a 3-year-old do it. Except then you would have been like, wait a second that's not possible because a 3-year-old could do way better than that...and then you would have been very puzzled by the mystery of the horribly-placed racing bib.  So I ended up having Kathryn help me center it and then I also had her help me put the chip on my shoe because I just struggle with everything.

This is the part where I pause and tell you that Dr. G. was being the announcer for the race and if you know me at all you know that Dr. G. is one of my chemistry homeboys and nothing could make me more happy than knowing that Dr. G. was in the area that I could bother him to my heart's content.  At this point, you might be thinking that I did something ridiculous and annoying to him, but I didn't. I just wanted you to know that he was there because he's my favorite.

pause for a completely unrelated conversation that I had with Dr. G this morning when he walked into the office:


Me: Dr. G., your collar is looking pretty cray cray right now.
Dr. G: Cray cray?
Me: Yeah, cray cray. You know, like crazy.
Dr. G: I don't get you.

...and then he walked away.


okay, interruption over.

As we started the race, we ran past Dr. G and he had his megaphone and was cheering us on and I didn't have a megaphone but I also cheered just as loudly for us.  At this point, it was not longer snowing but it was uphill and I feel like that's just as bad.  Kathryn and I kind of went ahead and were able to run most of the uphill part? (I might be lying about that most part)...but then we walked. and then when it was downhill we ran again, and then throughout the rest of the race we did this whole run/walk thing because you know, we'd been training for months and stuff so this was like a piece of cake. JOKES. Ha, but then when we were headed into the final leg, this weird pellet snow started murdering us so that was fun.  But then soon enough we could hear the music from the finish line and we were on the last stretch.  My favorite part coming to the finish line was the fact that Dr. G was there with his megaphone cheering me on personally, so obvs I had to go give him a high five which was actually weird and confusing and didn't really work out because like I said, he was holding a megaphone, but whatever. I did it anyway.

As soon as I finished the race Dr. G made me take the microphone and cheer others on which was probably a bad choice because I ran out of things to say to these runners after two minutes. I mean, come on. I was standing 100 feet away from the end of the race. What was I supposed to say? "Keep up the great work"? "You can do it"? I mean, obviously they can do it. They're like ten steps away from the finish line.  So mostly I just said, "Run it out!" which sounded equally dumb but whatever.  I was just glad that I got to see some friends finish the race and really cute little kids who would run the end part over and over so they could have me cheer them on over and over.

In the end, I placed 129th in my category, so I think we should all be impressed.  Sue, on the other hand, placed 2nd!! in her category. Granted, there were only two people total in her category, but I'm still impressed. I mean, she got a medal.  During the medals ceremony, I mostly just walked back and forth behind the announcer (Dr. G) and tried to move just enough to avoid getting hypothermia because HOLY COW, once you stop running you realize that it's freeeeeeezing.  But I still made sure to be just annoying enough that Dr. G gave me the stink eye a couple of times.  Mission accomplished.

And even though I was sore for dayzz, it was still worth it because like I always say, chemistry foolz are cool and I love hanging out with them and most importantly, that stink eye. Seriously my favorite thing.