Peg’s Posts: race brings hearty runners and Forerunners in all flavors

With the Midwest’s end-of-March snowstorm behind us, the weather had to be better for last weekend’s rescheduled Olathe half marathon and 5k. The races started and finished at Garmin headquarters just outside of Kansas City. While the weather was better, “better” is a relative term. Since I was there to volunteer, not run, I stood at the finish line for awhile, cheering on runners I knew or didn’t know, and snapping photos. Every runner heading to that finish line faced an unseen opponent. Wind … better known as “the Garmin wind tunnel”, created by the draft between our 8-story office building and parking garage. This force that wreaks havoc on hairdos and wrecks umbrellas during our windiest days made that final sprint to the finsh look more like running in slow mo.

Despite the blustery conditions, runners were in good spirits, grateful for a chance to put those weeks of winter training to the test. Spectators had spirit too, some sporting customized signs that appeared at several points along the course. Judging from the runners I viewed milling about before the race and passing my camera lens, this had to be one of the most Forerunner-bedecked fields I’ve ever seen. Saw them in all sizes and shapes, back to our original Forerunner design. The field’s going to keep growing with our recent introductions of the  Forerunner 405CX with heart rate-based calorie calculations and the Forerunner 310XT–our swim-proof device designed for multisport athletes. I’ve had a chance to take the 310XT for a couple of try-outs, including some pool running, as well as my first run in five weeks. After nursing an Achilles injury since January, I felt like I might like to keep going and see just how much of the 310XT’s 20-hour battery life I could use. But my head overruled my legs and I stopped at 2 miles, hoping to survive to run another day.

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