Raleigh-Durham, NC | November 4-6, 2016 | Quite the weekend for a runner!
I had been told in April to save this weekend for fun running times with the Oiselle ladies. And then it was announced that Lauren Fleshman would be joining us! In case you aren’t a runnerd, she’s a really awesome track and field athlete, who among other things was a 5K champ and is one of the owners of Picky Bars. Basically she’s a lady hero and one of Oiselle’s sister birds. I was stoked to be able to come down to Raleigh to meet her and hang for the weekend.
Friday night we had a big team dinner at Primal and then headed over to Ladies Night at Bull City Running. I got stuck in some traffic but wasn’t too late getting there and got to sit with Kristi, Brooklyn and some of the other ladies I had met and some new. The best part of the team is meeting other like-minded obsessive runners so I love it when I get to meet new members. As Brooklyn and I discovered we eat similarly we opted to share a dish for dinner (good choice- since portions were ridiculous). Then we all headed next door to basically take over ladies night. There were snacks, drinks (even a nuun cocktail) and we grabbed raffle tickets and hoped for the best. There was a little fashion show featuring some of BCR’s newest running apparel- including lots of Oiselle with some of our favorite ladies. It was fun and hilarious time. Then I won a prize! This never happens. Of course it was not my size but I was able to exchange for a pair of arm sleeves. WINNING! Super fun night with the ladies!!
Saturday morning I drove back over to Durham for a fun run and breakfast. Really any excuse to hang with Lauren and I was there :). Of course we started out at a fast pace for me and I kept up for awhile before hanging back. It was fun to run with Lauren- even if she was floating while the rest of us were huffing and puffing. I ended up doing about 4 miles with some of the ladies and then we got picky bars for snacks! There was a little Q&A afterwards and we learned more about Lauren’s journey and what she’s up to now. She’s so great- I think we were all hanging off every word. LOVE.
And then on Sunday- no more Lauren, BUT we had 5 relay teams running the City of Oaks Marathon. I was originally supposed to run leg 3, a 5 Miler which Kristi was also assigned to but Rachel wasn’t feeling her best so I was asked to switch. No problem! Luckily Myrtle Beach had been a couple of weeks back so I was able to hold down an 8 miler. We all met early at Bruegger’s for some breakfast, to pass out numbers, and to take a giant team photo. Then we broke into legs and headed to our respective start spots. I was now on leg 2 with Sara, Nicole, Sarah, and Marie. We carried all the bags and found a good place near the exchange to wait. I took a quick potty break and on my way back ran into Nicola- so of course we took another photo! Love the team :). Then runners started coming in- first up was Brooklyn and Mary Ellen so Sarah and Nicole took the timers and they were off. A few minutes later Julie, Caitlin and Rose came up and the rest of us took off. Sara is faster runner than either Marie or myself so she stayed with us for a bit and then we told her to go ahead. Marie and I are pretty similarly paced so we stuck together for the 8 mile stint. She had a brief issue with some gatorade near mile 7 but after a quick pause we kept on til we got to the next handoff. Kristi and Rachel took our timers and headed on. Rachel (not feeling her best) had some trouble near the end of the run- so of a the birds ran her in. A flock of sisters indeed. Since it was only the last leg at this point we all grabbed our things and headed toward the finish area. Soon enough our birds started coming through! It was a fun time!! I don’t think I would have ever wanted to do that marathon but breaking it into a relay wasn’t bad at all! After Kristi and I got brunch to catch up at Cafe Carolina- it had been awhile since it was just the two of us so this was much needed. Great Oiselle team time!
A really really fun weekend. So much running, so much team, so much happiness.
chasing every adventure 