Run run rudolph...

So I've been doing this crazy running thing right.

Race time temp: 26 degrees...people that's COLD!

That's my "I'm freezing pre-race" face.

Two of my cousins drove in for the race.... because they're awesome.

Cousin's Alyssa and Barbara getting ready for the race.

I'm pensive about getting pinned.

We did all sorts of things to keep warm pre-race.  Like dance to the Christmas tunes blasting through Old Town:

Some of us just wiggled really.

And then of course we ran.

All 1,100 of us.

The race began on a narrow cobblestone street, which sounds charming, until you realize it's a hot bed of injury potential.

We were cautious in the first quarter mile, then the crowd began to thin and we were off.  My dear neighbor and cousin agreed to set my pace and stay with me the entire run despite that fact that they both could have easily left me in the dust.

Things were off to a great start.  I was feeling good about our pace, my legs felt great, and despite the very crisp air my lungs had yet to scream at me.

Then we rounded a corner and much to my surprise was a hill...a very large hill.  People...I couldn't even see the crest of this bugger.  Josh calmly told me to dig in, this is where it counts.  I nearly died.

But then I didn't!

Massive thanks to Barbara and Josh for keeping me going that last half mile. It was a toughie, but you helped me along.

And we all lived to tell about it!

And we even got medals!

All in all I was extremely happy with my performance.  My goal six months ago was simply to cross the finish line.  As training went on I figured why not run the thing without stopping.  Then I got really ambitious and thought wouldn't it kick some serious Santa butt to finish the thing with a 10:00 mile pace!

As it turns out there's a lot to be said for adrenaline:

Congratulations on finishing the Santa's North Pole Dash on December 10, 2011.  This is a results summary for Ashley Schuster Kempf.

Your time of 30:35 gave you a pace of  9:52 per mile. Your overall finish place in the 5K was   221 and your age group finish place was 29.

There were 148 finishers in the Women 20 to 29 age group and 846 finishers in the race.

Full results can be found at http://www.fleetfeetstlouis.com/racetiming/results/SantaDash/santadash.htm

If you have any questions regarding the results, please visit http://www.fleetfeetstlouis.com/racetiming/correctionform/form.php

We hope to see you again next year.

FLEET FEET Race Timing

http://www.facebook.com/fleetfeetstlouis

I finished top 19% for my age group and top 26% overall.  Not too shabby for a first-time runner if I do say so myself!

My husband...full of energy (not having actually run the race) and with a tremendous amount of free time on his hands commemorated the event with a movie trailer...Indian Jones style...cause that's how we roll.