last minute af-fair

even though i've run the OC fair 5K the last couple of years and really enjoyed it, i was totally wishy-washy on registering for it this time around.  driving all the way down to costa mesa early on a sunday morning didn't sound particularly fabulous, and i almost wussed out.

but this is me.  it didn't take a whole lot more than a little reminiscing over that fun course and sweet bling at the end to convince me to jump onto the website and register...the day before the race.  heh.  and as i remembered the long lines for bib pick-up on the morning of the run, i realized that i'd have to leave the house pretty early.

i made really great time getting down there (sunday morning pre-7am makes for wide open freeways) and scored a great parking spot not far from the combined start/finish line.  and this early bird was rewarded with zero wait for my bib and t-shirt.

because i'd registered so late, i had a pretty high number.

with an hour to kill until the start of the race, i wandered around the small expo that was set up.  i don't always hang out to check out the vendors at these things, so it was kind of fun to see what there was.  i even spun a wheel for a prize.

and it's always cool to see a place like this when it's early enough that the crowds have yet to descend upon it.

i headed back to the car to put my goody bag away and checked out my loot.

 with a half hour to go, i decided to join the growing crowd at the start line.

my friend the nurse, who was here to celebrate her 1-year anniversary of running races, managed to find me for a quick selfie.

rudy novotny, race announcer extraordinaire, was up at the start getting the crowd hyped up and cracking jokes left and right.  he saw me and one of the other team superhero members in the crowd and gave us a special shout-out, which was awesome.  i love him, he's such a nice guy.

the course was pretty much the same as the last time.  we started off going through the parking lot:

then out on fair drive, along the front of the fairgrounds.

on the way back, we hit mile marker 1.

and then through the green gate:

and into the fun.

i went into this run knowing i wasn't necessarily doing it for time - especially since i knew there would be a few "detours of fun."  last year, running it with the girls, it took a long time to get to this point and the line to play games was really long.  but this time, as with the bib pick-up, i walked right up and tried to shoot a basket for a prize.

i didn't make it, but got a little stuffed animal anyway.  i wanted to play the "break the plate" game too, but the carnie working it spied the toy in my hand and shook his head.  "one prize per person," he grunted.  there were guys on either side of me clutching multiple prizes in their hands, but hey - that's okay.  i didn't even want another prize anyway, i really just wanted to see if i could break the damn plate, but noooooo.  so i just scampered off and resumed my run.

the smell hit me before i realized where i was headed next.

and just beyond that, mile 2.

the angle of where i stood for this makes the shot really kinda extremely wrong.  whatevs, i took it anyway.  i laughed my head off at it later.

then it was back out and through the midway, where all the games and fun prizes stood eerily silent.

this is where i'd been expecting the second detour, for the super slide.  i really wanted to go down that thing, and thought i'd paid close attention as i searched for the entrance.  alas, i never did see where it was, and i found myself at the third detour instead.  i wasn't that interested in heading all the way down there for a silly picture with a blow-up guitar, so i just kept on going.

pretty soon, there it was - the marker for mile 3.  yay!

as i approached the finish, i heard rudy call out my name and then gave me an extra boost with a second team superhero shout-out.

finished!

i passed rudy again on my way back to the car, and had to stop for a silly selfie.  seriously, love this guy.

back at home i was greeted excitedly by the bean, sitting quietly at the desk drawing pictures.  she was the first one up, and was happy to accept the prize i'd brought home for her.

swag.

see ya next year, OC fair!