Family Jewels 5K (Formerly the Jaimeson Jones Memorial 5K) Race Report

I ran a little trail race, ummmm about a month ago.  If I don't write a race recap, did it actually happen?  I'm not sure, so I'm thinking better late than never...

This race initially drew my attention because it's held every year at Saint Edwards State Park which is a stone's throw from my house.  We've done PLENTY of hikes with the kids there, but I've never really run the trails.  Then I got to reading about the charity and I couldn't sign up fast enough.  Jaimeson Jones passed away from testicular cancer at the tragic age of just twenty years old.  The fund assists college students that are siblings of children dealing with cancer, the shadow victims.  It's one of only two such funds of it's kind.  The story behind it is very much worth reading.

To make this race even more convenient than it already was, they had pre race packet pickup at Everyday Athlete: my favorite running store that's also a very short jaunt from my home.  Super cozy shirts have been plentiful at the last few races I've run, and this one was no exception!

Hehe, quite the logo...

Additionally, inside the packet, there were these little silver dollar sized samples of the homemade pie that Jaimeson's mother serves up after the run every year.  I KNOW, RIGHT?

With my bib in hand the day before, I was free to sleep until at least 8AM on race day!  After gearing up and driving over, I was still plenty early to warm up a bit for a 9AM start.  It was a pretty chilly and damp March morning, but thankfully free of rain.  We lined up on time and then the race announcements took a while, but basically had me in tears.  Jaimeson's mother talked to the group about his cancer, his siblings, and how he loved to run at St. Edwards.  The first recipient of the memorial scholarship was there, and he had traveled from Eastern Washington along with his family to attend the race and we all gave them a round of applause.  Then she introduced Jaimeson's Bothell High XC coach, who was there to give us an overview of the course and sound the starting gun.  Additionally, there was a contingent of current Bothell High XC kids volunteering.  It was all so very emotional and such a testament to how much this young man meant to the community.  Once I finally dried my eyes and we all had a few laughs over his mother's humorous delivery to get our full attention about detecting testicular cancer, we were ready to go. 

The 5K course is part grass and part trail, running through the woods just surrounding the park and through the fields around the main buildings.  I had done a 7 mile long run the day before, and I was not looking to go fast - just enjoy the trails.  I've never really run on grass before and I really have a whole new respect for XC runners, it feels incredibly slow going!  

happy to get off the grass!

But the trails felt fast and fun, just like the last time I ran a trail race, akin to riding a roller coaster.  The race is two loops, which is good and bad.  It was good in the sense that I knew exactly how the trail was going to twist and turn; bad because, ugh, I have to pass the finish and do that one more time!  Overall, it was a fun course and had an old school finish chute where we lined up as we finished and put the bottom tag of our bib on a spindle.  

Our bib info/race results! I'm on the bottom right there, somewhere in the first 10 women to finish in 30:32.

If it had been a warmer morning, or if I had convinced someone to run with me, I would have stuck around for what looked to be some good odds on cool raffle prizes.  Alas, I was cold and a bit worn out, so I had some hot chocolate and pie (yum!) and headed home.

Mmmm, homemade apple pie...

There is NO QUESTION that I will do this race again.  I love Saturday races, love that it has so many personal touches, love how close to home it is, love that it's on the trails and above all, even if I'm unable to run, this cause will receive my money every year.  Thank you Jaimeson's family for putting on such a great event!