Headed out Saturday morning for the race. One thing you have to love about winter running in Alaska ... no 7 AM starts. I thought it was a 10AM start at UAA and I slept in and rushed, thinking I was running late. Nope, not late. 11AM start. That gave me plenty of time to park, walk through the skywalk and find the student union.Plenty of time to hang out indoors to stay warm. Plenty of time to admire the costumes ... santa, elves, christmas presents, reindeer, angels.Even a guy in a kilt with bagpipes. Took a selfie with some costumes in the background. I am not good at selfies. Is my nose really that long? Then, out to the start with just a few minutes before the start time. I put on my spikes and shook my hand warmers in my gloves to stay warm. It got really crowded just before the start
It got pretty crowded at the start line and I was near the back. Apparently, for me, even too far back,very unusual. For about a half mile, I was skipping around walkers, strollers, dogs, slower runners, groups of people chatting. I was glad I had spikes because it was slippery. Finally out of the soup and onto the Chester Creek Trail. I haven't run in almost a month and this was my first run in spikes and my first run in snow. Boy, is it different. The snow was soft and you really sink into it like running in sand. The spikes hold on to the snow. I could tell my legs were really working and in the cold, my lungs were really working. 
But, the views were COMPLETELY WORTH IT!!!! It feels like Christmas.
The course was an out and back and Rivera from the clinic met me at the final turn. She is a speed demon and very used to running in the snow. She and Sassy ran me to the finish. I was really looking forward to finding some warm coffee. Definitely not a time or pace to brag about, but it was still fun. Course was lovely. Support was great. I'm glad I got out there and I would do it again.
