Scrumpy Skedaddle Race Report

Sorry it took so long to get this up, but it was a BUSY weekend and I had a lot to write about. 🙂  Sit back and get comfy…it’s another long one. (I know, what’s new… 😉 )

My birthday was this past Saturday, and I started off my “birthday weekend” by taking Thursday and Friday off work. Thursday was for a medical reason (all is good), but Friday was purely because I didn’t want to have to go back into work the day before my birthday. Taking two days off from work was a great idea, and I was much less stressed by the time Saturday morning rolled around.  I even made cupcakes!  JJ had a game at 11:40, and I figured if I was going to have to go to the hockey rink on my birthday, there should be cupcakes! JJ’s team actually trounced the other team, 12-0. It’s not that I ever want to celebrate those kind of lopsided victories, but believe me, I’ve had a kid on the other team many times in my life, so it was nice to have a big win for my birthday. And if you thought the kids were excited about the win, you should’ve heard them when they found out that JJ’s mom brought cupcakes. 😉 I got a picture with all of them for my birthday, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out. There was just too much excitement going on about the cupcakes. 🙂

As soon as the game was over, we packed up and headed north.  One of the best things about having a birthday in October is that the fall is prime season to go to Frankenmuth. If you don’t know about Frankenmuth, here’s a link. Basically, it’s a German town in the middle of Michigan, and it not only has great food, it’s down the road from some great outlet mall shopping. It’s a birthday girl’s dream!

We started the day at Birch Run outlet mall, where I was intent on getting some new clothes for work. I have been lamenting for while on my blog about my struggles with my weight this year, and how the pants that I bought about 21 months ago aren’t fitting anymore. Unfortunately, back then, I went from a size 8 pant to a size 4 pant pretty quickly, and now that I’m not quite a size 4, I don’t have any clothes to wear that are uncomfortably bulky. My mission on Saturday was to find myself three pairs of pants so that I could have something to wear that I felt good in.

I started out at the gap just to see if I can find anything, and I did find a nice sweater.

I tried on those jeans on a whim, because they matched the pretty maroon sweater. They were not only a size 4, but they were “skinny,” which is not something I’m ever going to wear. Clearly my body is not meant for “skinny” anything, but they fit! That perked me up after this long, hard year of clothes not fitting.

I only found the one sweater at Gap, but to my delight, they had a New York and Company outlet at Birch Run, and they were having a “half off the whole store” sale.  Ding ding, I’m a winner! 🙂 I tried on three size 6 pants, and I was delighted to find that they fit comfortably.  I’m beginning to wonder if maybe I never really “comfortably” fit in those size 4s, but was just enjoying the fact that they did zip up.  😛 Regardless, I was really pleased to find these pants that fit and made me look good, so I bought all three, plus a lovely maroon blouse that made me look pretty good, too. I seem to be having maroon issues this year.

After Birchrun, came the next stop on our usual Frankenmuth tour: Bronner’s! What? You’ve never heard of Bronner’s? Click the link and go check it out. I’ll wait.

………

Now doesn’t that look like fun!? I love that store, and I’ve been going there since I was a teenager with my best friend and her parents. I have so many ornaments on my Christmas tree from Bronner’s, and every one is a special memory. The boys were excited to pick out ornaments, and of course they headed it right to the sports section when we arrived. Each one got a hockey-themed ornament, and they were thrilled. As for me, I had a hard time choosing, but it was actually JJ who found the ornament that I liked the best.

He had also found me some Hershey’s kiss ornaments, though I didn’t get them. That boy knows me so well. 🙂 Here we all are with our goodies.

Once we finished there, it was down the road for the best birthday treat a girl could ask for.

What? You’ve never heard of Zehnder’s? Check out the link and then come back. I’ll wait.

…….

That’s right, winner, winner, birthday chicken dinner! 😀  We have not actually been to Zehnder’s as a family of four, and Jamie was just a toddler when we went last time, so it was a great treat to introduce the kids to the joy of the all you can eat chicken dinner.

Jamie didn’t remember his previous trips, but he very quickly came to know if the joy of Zehnder’s.  He kept raving about it all night. It was fun to be back there after so many years. Do you like how I’m crowding my husband in the picture to show off my good side?  You know what, in a house full of men, I get to at least be a princess on my birthday!  😉

So after all the chicken and the pie and the shopping and then shopping again, we did eventually end up at a hotel in Flint. We went to bed about 10, because we all had to get up early for a race. And yes, I did say “all.”  Guess who ran his first race ever Sunday morning?

Yep, that’s my husband and me, in line at the start for this Scrumpy Skedaddle. :D. Him agreeing to do the race was actually my birthday present.  I’m not sure if that means he got off easy or not.  😉 Considering that it was 43° at race start, maybe not.  :p

Jason and JJ ran the 5K, while Jamie and I did the 10K.  It was really fun to hang out at the start line with my kids AND my husband. I saw a lady walking around with a cupcake carrier holding at least a dozen fancy chocolate cupcakes, and I joked to my husband that she knew how to pack for a race. 😉

We did have a bit of a mixup at the beginning, though. One of the things you get after the race, besides a cool mug and metal, was a tasting of hard cider. We learned when we picked up JJ’s packet that, for the kids, they tore off the hard cider ticket from the bib and attached a paper “soft” cider ticket. When we looked at Jamie’s, they hadn’t done that, which surprised us. A few minutes later, Jamie pointed out what the problem was: he was listed as a 42-year-old male! My husband was all excited, because he thought it was going to get three hard ciders, since I had already promised him mine. We took the bib back and ask them to fix it, so that Jamie could be ranked with the kids in his age group, and they immediately ripped off the hard cider ticket. You should’ve heard my husband moaning. 😉

The race got underway a little after 10:30, and we all started together, since they had both the 10K in the 5K going at the same time. Jamie and I pulled ahead pretty quickly, since JJ is a slower runner.  It was very crowded, as it usually is at the beginning of the race, but the added challenge was that not long after we started, we started running through the orchard…literally through the orchard! That might not have been so bad, had it not poured rain the day before. It made for some interesting terrain.

Jamie and I had decided that morning that he was going to run the race comfortably, but try to push himself just a little. He has had football four days a week, and hockey 3 to 4 days a week, so he hasn’t been able to run much. He had a 5-mile run about a week ago, and he had a really good experience with walking about every half-mile for 20 or so seconds, so he asked me if he could do that for the race. All I cared about was that he ran it, so I told him we could do that.  It was difficult at times, because of the fact that there were so many people around, and the paths were not only narrow, but muddy and occasionally puddled, so sometimes we had to walk whenever we could, not necessarily when we were supposed to.

It was beautiful, although cold. Some of the leaves had begun to turn, and once the sun started to peek through, it became downright scenic.

We really did run through the orchards, and in fact, there was very little of the route that was on roads at all.

Parts of the race were heading to the wind, but we did the best we could. At one point, I saw Meg from Running Just As Fast As She Can, or rather, she saw me. I was glad I got to see her, and I looked for her afterwards, but there were so many people, it was just impossible.  But it was nice to say hi!

As we rounded the turn toward the second and final water station just before mile 5, we ran through a barren field. After all the green of the orchards, cornfields, and soybean fields, we were surprised at the dry browness under our feet.

Jamie dubbed it “the dead field,” ha ha. 😉

I was surprised when he indicated he didn’t want to stop at the aid station, but it wasn’t at his designated walking point, so he said no. I, however, did stop, and then I had to rush to catch up with him! The crowd had thinned out some by then, and a few runners noticed him as they passed by and offered him encouragement. I was surprised at how few kids I saw…but then again, the speedy ones would all be ahead of us, lol!

At exactly mile five, we stopped once more for a quick walk and water break (I had brought my hydration belt for him). Right after we started running again, we passed another woman who offered him encouragement, and then we pulled up alongside a man who was running at about our pace.  When the man saw Jamie, he was very encouraging and enthusiastic. He asked Jamie how old he was and how many 10ks he’d done. I was surprised that Jamie actually talked to him, because I figured he was pretty tired by that point. The man, whose name turned out to be John, was familiar where we lived in Monroe County, and we had a nice conversation going. He was really enthusiastic about Jamie’s running, and it made me feel really good to see someone encouraging my son so much. It seemed to help Jamie as well, because he didn’t complain even though he was at the end of the race, and I could tell that he was trying hard to keep up a good pace for his new friend. 🙂 John even asked Jamie has full name so he could look up his results later. Because John was so interested in Jamie’s results, I made sure to give him my blog name so he could come by to read the race report. (Note: John did indeed remember and he emailed me on Monday to let me know he looked up Jamie’s results and was very happy for his good run!)

As we neared the final turn, I passed a couple of people that were directly in front of us, and I encouraged Jamie to do the same. He kind of grumbled at me, and said, “Don’t do it, Mom.” I knew he meant he didn’t want me giving him lots of “attaboys” and encouragement (see our Kona race report for the backstory on that), and I promised him that I just was trying to get him to move past those people, and for the rest, he was on his own. I knew he was getting tired by this time, so I just kept my mouth shut and hoped that he would have a decent finish.  As we pulled a little bit ahead of John, he called out to Jamie that he was going to finish strong. That made me smile.

When we turned the final corner, Jamie saw the finish line ahead. I heard him say, “There it is,” and then, without warning, he took off! I found myself grumbling, “I hate it when he does this” under my breath as I rushed to try and catch up. It was hard! As we got closer to the finish line, I saw my husband standing on the sideline, and a big smile broke across his face when he saw Jamie sprinting. Or maybe he was laughing at me trying to catch up with him. ;).

At any rate, Jamie crossed the finish line about a second before me, and he wasn’t really even that tired. He grabbed his medal and his mug, and then went looking for his dad. We found Jason, who congratulated us, and then he pointed out that the line for the pancakes with very long.  Jay and I went to the back of the line while Jamie went to the bathroom.  I asked Jason how his run with JJ was, and he just shrugged and said it was fine. It bummed me out that I missed them crossing the finish line, since it was my husband’s first-ever race, but Jay and I got to hang out together in line while we waited (and waited and waited) for pancakes, so I got to hear about it, at least. According to Jason, JJ complained a little bit at the end, but then he sprinted to the finish, so I guess it wasn’t too bad. Especially considering that as soon as the race was over, he immediately went to go play on the playscape with some newfound friends. 😉

As we walked to find the back of the line, I passed by the same lady who had the cupcakes earlier. To my surprise, her cupcake carrier was still full! I stopped as I passed her and jokingly said, “Lady, if you don’t give away or eat those cupcakes soon, I’m going to mug you for ’em.” She laughed as I continued to walk on.

As we passed by the trailer that had the results posted from the 5K, I of course looked up JJ, and was delighted to find that he had taken second place in his age group! Of course, since it was not exactly a kid-themed race, there weren’t a lot of kids running, but he still beat out a few other kids. I let Jason stand in the pancake line while I grabbed JJ off the playscape and we hunted up the awards. It took us a while, but we finally found them. JJ and I were both thrilled that he got a special souvenir glass for placing in his age group. 🙂

While we were there, I figured there was a good shot that Jamie had placed in his age group, as well, since they were giving out awards five deep and I hadn’t noticed a lot of kids running. She looked it up while I was standing there, and informed me that Jamie had gotten first! I look down at the sheet and realized that he been first because he was the only boy aged 10-14 who had entered. But who cares, he ran 6 miles… I say that means he earned that souvenir glass!

I grabbed both glasses and headed back to Jason, and found Jamie waiting with him in line. I informed Jamie that he had won his age group and handed him his glass. He was absolutely ecstatic! I mentioned that he probably was the only one in his age group (I didn’t want to burst his bubble right away), but I also told him that he deserved the glass because he was probably the only boy his age who came to run ta 10k that morning. He didn’t seem too concerned that he was the only entrant…he was just thrilled to get the glass! That, along with the medal, the shirt, and the glass mug, were some pretty cool awards for running 6 miles. 🙂

But wait! Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, as we were standing there discussing the race, the woman with the cupcakes came up to me…and she still had all the cupcakes! She leaned over to me and said, “I brought these cupcakes that a friend of mine made because we have a couple of friends that are running the race who are vegan, and they can’t have the pancakes. I have a lot, and they’re not going to eat all these. Would your boys like a cupcake?” I almost fell over laughing. I told her she really didn’t have to do that, and that I had just been joking about wanting the cupcakes, but she was insistent that the boys deserved a cupcake and that she had plenty to spare. So I let her give each kid a cupcake.

Those are some amazing looking cupcakes aren’t they? She told me that the man who made them is actually an architect, and he just bakes as a hobby. She then asked me if I wanted one as well. By this time I was feeling horribly guilty for making the comment about mugging her, and I insisted that I didn’t need one. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, though, and after I asked her if she was sure she had enough and she said yes…well, hell, yeah I took a cupcake! 😉

So you might think to yourself, “Hmmmm…vegan cupcakes. I’ll pass. ” I won’t lie, I was a little trepidatious about them myself…until I tasted one. Holy God, they were awesome! They were peanut butter and chocolate, with real chunks of peanuts in the most unbelievably delicious peanut butter frosting I’ve ever had. If this architect bakes as a hobby, I think it’s time for him to quit his day job!

We then stood in line for the next hour or so, waiting for pancakes. My husband actually had to work Sunday night, and I kept asking him if he just wanted to leave so he could go home and sleep, but he obviously loves me, and wanted me to have a great birthday weekend, because he stayed the whole time. It probably helped that I gave him my ticket for a hard cider, and then I ended up having an extra one because, well, don’t ask why…just because. 🙂 After three hard ciders, I don’t think he really cared how long we waited for pancakes. :p

Speaking of pancakes, you have to see the video I took. The pancakes were actually done by a place called Chris Cakes, and they have a special way of serving you pancakes. Check out the video to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mnNOdYXLBs

What a riot, right? I hope you noticed the first guy’s “hat.” 😉  That’s me laughing when he asks if anyone wants their pancakes “sunny side up.”  I was amazed at how well JJ did, and Jamie, too, but I was really amused by how blase my husband was about it. 😛  I didn’t want to have mine tossed at me, but before I could even tell him, he started throwing pancakes at me, and I discovered that when someone throws a pancake at you, human instinct kicks in, and, well…you catch it! 🙂

After that, we sat and ate pancakes sausage on a pallet that I suspect is usually for apples.

The pancakes were quite yummy, as was the sausage, and the cider was very good, as well.  As far as races go, I will say that while this one was not exceptionally awesome, there are a lot of positives. The shirts were good, the medals were awesome, and the mug was sweet. I also enjoyed the pancake breakfast and the free cider, and the whole atmosphere was actually pretty fun, despite the long wait.  The challenge for me was really the course itself–it’s hard running through an apple orchard! The mud definitely made it less than ideal.  For that reason, I’m not sure I’d run it again.  But I definitely have great memories of this race and the whole weekend.

When we arrived home, I did look up Jamie’s time, and discovered that he finished in 1:09:44.  That was less than a minute slower than his Kona Run, and considering how rough the course was, and how slow we had to go to keep from slipping in the mud, I was thrilled, and so was Jamie.  I checked to see how many other kids had run the 10k, and to my astonishment, I discovered that Jamie was the only person under the age of 20 when ran the 10k!  I made sure to tell him that, and I assured him that he earned that awesome finisher glass by having the courage and determination to actually show up and run the race. 🙂  I probably don’t need to worry about bolstering his confidence, though…he has talked non-stop about how happy he is that he ran that race and how much fun he had.  🙂

Before we left the orchard, we stopped to have our picture taken.

If you think that looks like a picture of a happy family, you’re right. 🙂 And the happiest of all was the birthday girl. I didn’t actually get any presents from my family for my birthday, at least, not anything that was wrapped, but what I experienced this past weekend from them was positively the most wonderful present I could have received–enjoying my favorite sport with all the people I love. 😀

Thank you for reading!!