This saturday I will be doing the Mud Hen in Longmont, CO. This is just a fun little run around McIntosh Lake.  Not necessarily for my Racing The States project, but just something fun to do with my Mom.  Its called the “Mud Hen” because of the Mud Hen bird itself, also known as a Coot, that lives in swampland areas. McIntosh lake is surrounded by different marsh/swamp areas which create a sometimes muddy dirt trail (The FUN part)! This little race has only been going for 7 years, but it’s a fun event for the city of Longmont.

Me and mom ran it 2 years ago together and last year my mom ran it as well (I don’t quite remember why I didn’t run it; I must’ve had to work or something). So this year, I’m back at it with her! Two years ago though, I did pretty well. I even won a prize for my age group. I was the first out of 8 women ages 19 to 24! Ok ok, I know…only 8 people, but it’s a small race. I was 27th out of a total of 191 women and I finished 99th out of a 338 total runners. My time was 28:36. I’m curious to see how many more participants there are this year and now that I’m in a different age group (ugh), I’m curious how I will stack up to them.

Like I said before, the run is around McIntosh lake, which is gorgeous. There is beautiful views of Long’s Peak and the surrounding wetlands. There’s cute little prairie dogs that pop up and watch you run as well as lots of other wildlife. And the neighborhoods surrounding have huge, gorgeous houses. When I used to live in Longmont, I would run around this lake a lot. It’s perfect size, just over 3 miles.

Goals for this race:

1. Beat my last time. I’m pretty sure I have been running consistently faster than 28:36 for a 5k, but I don’t have it recorded. As of now, I guess that would be my PR because it’s the only recorded 5k I have. Previous to this project, I have not been much into timing myself. So, I would like to PR this race.

Well, that’s pretty much all the goals I have for this race! LOL! Here’s some pretty pictures of the lake I’ve taken a few years ago: