Tunnel to Towers 5k-a new must

Today was the Tunnel to Towers 5k in Jeff City.  This was the first year it was held and I think it was a great race!  The weather was great!  Cool temps and no sun blazing down on everyone.  I had a bit of a headache and didn't sleep well and had almost talked myself out of going but once I got up and got moving I knew I would kick myself if I skipped it.  So off to Jeff City I went.  And I'm so glad I did.  This 5k will be one I do yearly now.  

After picking up my t-shirt and race bib I walked up to the State Capitol building where the race started and suddenly was reminded how hilly of a town I was in.  Then I came to the top of the hill and was greeted by the huge flag and started getting excited for the run.

They had a section of signs for the fallen heroes of 9/11.  The Fire Chief spoke about how he had gone to New York and ran in the original Tunnel to Towers 5k.  I thought this run was awesome...I can't imagine what it would be like to run through the tunnel in New York and see signs for almost 3,000 fallen.  It would be powerful.

The firefighters were running this race in full gear today.  Some ran in their boots and some switched to tennis shoes.

I accidentally took this photo and didn't realize I had until I was looking through my photos later.  Even though I didn't mean to take a photo of the fireman's feet, I really liked it.

Jeff City FD all in gear ready to go.  The fastest FD was going to win a traveling trophy, a hand carved ax out of wood.  I'm a little biased towards these guys because they put on the Hotter than Hell 5k every year, which is one of my favorite 5ks, so of course I was cheering for them to win.

South Callaway FD-they won the largest participating FD.  I loved that the dog joined in too.

Listening to the speakers while waiting to start the run.  You can see he is in full gear complete with his tank.

There were 170 runners including the first responders.  They needed 200 runners to close streets so we had to watch for cars but we did have police escorts.

A photo of 2 firemen coming up to the finish.  The uphill finish was brutal.

This officer ran in the race and finished shortly after me.  He did awesome.

The crowd in this run was so supportive it floored me.  A girl in front of me kept turning around and at first I thought she was looking for someone...then she started yelling back at me and clapping "You got this!" or "Keep it up!"  The man in the photo above was behind me.  I passed him going down a hill at one point and stayed just slightly in front of him.  The hills in Jeff City are brutal.  The way up is killer but I can fly down the other side.  So after I passed him flying down and we hit the next hill I slowed and heard "Come on, head down, pump your arms harder we got this!"  I thought "well I don't know who he is talking to because he appeared to be alone but I'm going to pretend he's talking to me" and his encouragement really powered me up that hill.  The next hill came around and I hear "Ok let's go, this is the last big hill.  Head down and keep going."  This is when I realize he is actually talking to me.  This man combined with the girl in front of me gave me such a boost it's like I felt no pain.  It was awesome.  I eventually caught up to the girl and she had started walking.  We gave each other some encouragement and I passed her for a brief time then she caught up with me as we came up to the uphill finish and she says "We got it let's finish uphill together."  I said "Let's go" and we ran after the finish line.  She finished just ahead of me and we gave each other the "great jobs" and each grabbed a water and I went off to thank the hill coach.  The thing was I wasn't even sure who it was but I had a pretty good idea.  I couldn't not thank him so I went up and said "Were you, by chance, behind me helping me get up those hills?  I didn't know if you were talking to me or not but I needed it."  He said "That was me and I was talking to myself and whoever was in front of me.  You were in front of me."  I told him thanks for the push.  I wish I could be that person for other people...maybe one of these days I'll be the hill coach for someone.

I stayed to cheer on the firemen crossing the finish line.  Jeff City FD finished in 44 minutes and won fastest FD.  Considering the hilly course that is impressive.  I thought one of them was possibly going to throw up but he held it together.  The experience of running with them to start was awesome.  The guy sitting on the curb even carried an ax.

Another firemen helping one of the guys get his gear off.

They wasted no time getting out of gear at the end.  Who can blame them...it would be pretty hot in all that.

This race had a different feel in a good way.  I ran it like a race but it was more about people.  It wasn't officially timed, although there was a time clock and I timed myself.  I finished at 29:49 which I was pleasantly surprised with considering the course.  I was also surprised at how good I felt.  I really think it was all due to the atmosphere and the girl and guy who, although didn't know me at all, came together and helped me out.  A fitting feeling to walk away from this race with.