Race report: Missouri River 8k

Hot, hot, hot. Those are the three words that come to mind when describing this morning's race. It was a short race, which was nice, but it was a scorcher out even at 7:00am. The course is a loop course that starts with a nice downhill for the first mile or so. The middle three miles are all flat, and the last mile and change is a huge uphill followed by some gentle elevation changes mixed with some more flat ground. So, except for that huge hill just after the four mile mark, it's really a pretty nice race.
My only complaint about the course is that the middle three miles follow a road that winds through the farmland in the Missouri River bottom area. Not a single shade tree for the entire distance. It was so stinking hot for those three miles. Of course, if there had been a slight breeze, like there has been during other races on this same terrain, it would have been much more tolerable. But of course, nature simply could not cooperate with the race today.
There were only two water stops on the course, but there was a wet sponge station at the top of the huge hill, plus the last mile was through a residential area and a lot of the residents were out with their hoses squirting runners down if they needed it...I guess they really didn't want anyone passed out on their lawns.(-:
It was a pretty fast course as well. I ran the best time I've ever run for a race of this distance. My finish time for the 5.5 miles was just under 47 minutes. And I was towards the back of the racers as far as my finishing time went. I heard a lot of people commenting that they had never run a race so fast before.
Overall, it was a nice race. This year was the thirtieth anniversary of the running of the race, so they had nice commemorative ball caps for the first three hundred entrants. I'd say that everyone who ran today got one, as there were only about 150 or so people running. They also had Nike squirt bottles filled with Gatorade, and a ton of fresh fruit at the finish line for everyone.
The best part of racing this morning though, is that now I'm done with my running for the day. And since I finished all my chores and errands yesterday, today is totally mine to do with whatever I please! I think that today will entail relaxing, reading, and maybe catching a movie. I am so excited!