Elvis 5K

We're having an Elvis weekend, in fact! Yesterday afternoon life took Chasen and I to Tupelo, Mississippi -- birthplace of Elvis.

Getting there! I was excited.

This is where Elvis was born and raised. I'd say Graceland was a major step up!

This is a statue of Elvis at age 13.

This is the Plymouth the family used to drive from Tupelo to Memphis.

Since we were already on the road, we also visited Oxford, Mississippi.

Today, though, was indeed the Elvis 5K to benefit United Cerebral Palsy of the Mid-South. Chasen announced a few days ago that he'd be running the race, also. Cool! We've only ran one other race together (a 2-miler in 2006).

We arrived at Graceland and went to get our packets. We had to wait quite a while. Same thing with the port-o-pottie lines later on! But that turned out successful, also. And the weather? Heavenly! The running gods must have been smiling, because it was about 75 degrees with only 75% humidity. A real treat!

On Wednesday Lisa told me I'd probably run into this local running celebrity:

Elvis!!! Aka George the running Yorkie. Apparently he is at all the races. Cameras were snapping!

Chasen lined up way ahead of me, of course. We started and finished right in front of Graceland.

There were two different groups of military people there. Chasen knows the specifics of all that. But let me tell you this: they ran in formation the whole way. Pretty cool!

I thought I could stay in front of them. Their 'chants' were entertaining and kept me going.

But not for long. They left me in the dust!

My goal today was to ENJOY the race. I didn't want to go out too fast and then start hating the race by mile 2. I wanted to be "slow and steady."

We weaved through the neighborhood surrounding Graceland, which was just "normal" houses, not mansions. People were out clapping for us and some had sprinklers and water hoses on. I avoided the water. The weather was quite nice as it was.

I brought my own water bottle, so I did not partake of the water stops. However, at mile 1.5 or so the UCP folks were handing out ice cold paper towels! Now that was GREAT. I kept mine for the whole rest of the race. It was so refreshing. What's more, I am not a major sweater. I sweat a normal amount, in my opinion. What I do, though, is SALT. I am like a salt block after a race. So the paper towel kept me looking flushed/pink instead of pink with a layer of white on top!

Here are my splits:

Mile 1 - 13:15

Mile 2 - 13:48

Mile 3 - 13:20

Mile 3.1 - 1:34

Total - 41:58 unofficially (we wore timing chips - no results posted yet)

That is 1:11 slower than the Firecracker 5K, but this was a MUCH better race. I was slow and steady, so I met my goal. And I didn't curse every step past mile 1! I got my money's worth, you might say.

Chasen finished before me, of course, so he ran back to me and got my camera as I turned back onto Elvis Presley Blvd.

The finish line is in sight!

Apparently I wanted to greet it. The Graceland visitor's center is on the other side of me.

Post-race was a little disappointing. The food was great (as they even had hot dogs), but the live band wasn't even playing Elvis songs. Bummer! So we didn't hang too long.

But this shirt makes the whole event complete:

It's a very vibrant yellow!

So what's next? The Overton Park 5 Mile Classic in two weeks. I better get registered!