Cowboy Hazel

Over the weekend, Helen and I headed "downtown" to run in the Halloween 5K. My new town does not mess around when it comes to holiday spirit – although the total population of Emmaus is only around 11,000, an estimated 20,000 people showed up for the 5K and following parade!

I decided to break out my old gorilla suit for the occasion and subsequently convinced Helen to buy a banana costume that we found at Target. I failed to account for how difficult it would be to run wearing a suit of fur and, more importantly, a thick rubber face mask. I could hardly see or hear anything (I collided with at least two other runners during the race), and I was seriously overheating by the end of the race. That was the longest 3.1 miles of my life. I finished in 23:54, which wasn't too bad considering the circumstances. Helen the banana was a few minutes ahead of me and ended up winning the entire women's race and a $120 prize.

Lots of fun, but next year I'm definitely going to invest in a more running-friendly costume.



Note: I linked the photo to an album with more photos of the race. If you need a password, let me know.