This past weekend, I was able to cross off bucket list item #21: run a 10K! I chose the Run the Runway 10K at the Scottsdale Airport because I love airplanes and it sounded like an epic run. And it totally was!
It’s always fun when my other passions collide with my bucket list. Most people know that during the day, I work as an aerospace engineer for Honeywell Aerospace and when you hear ‘aerospace’ you might think of airplanes, satellites, space items, etc. so it would be fair to say that an aerospace engineer likes airplanes right? I think so! I love airplanes, I think they are super cool and I love when my other passions intersect with my bucket list, and that’s exactly what happened during this run! My job also sort of collided with this bucket list item because I have been to the Scottsdale Airport before. And not to travel or catch a flight on vacation, I’ve actually been to the Scottsdale Airport for two flight tests through my job, which I thought was super cool!
So we get to the Scottsdale Airport super bright and early at 7:30am and if you know me, you know that this is WAY too early for me haha but it was super worth it!
It was so weird to be stretching and prepping for a race surrounded by airplanes. There were literally so many airplanes just hanging out.
My cousin and I bought new shoes for this race and we’re glad we did because we were so comfortable during the run!
One of my favorite parts about this 10K was the fact that it didn’t feel like a super long race. I’ve done a few 5Ks and those have felt way longer. And I’ve narrowed it down to 2 main reasons why this race felt shorter. #1: Every other 5K that I’ve done, I’ve ran alone. Yes, I show up with friends and start running with them but I don’t have a friend who runs at my pace. Usually I’m faster or they’re faster but we somehow never stick together. This race, however, I forgot my headphones so I told my cousin to leave her headphones in her car and I would keep her same pace. And since we ran the entire race together and we were talking and laughing, the race went by SO FAST. And #2 is that I’ve been pretty busy at work that every night for the last 3 weeks leading up to the race, I’ve gone for a late evening run just to sort of de-stress myself. And this training definitely helped me!
It was really cool to run on the runway and think about the fact that I’m running on the same place where a plane has been before! There were also a ton of airplanes parked around the track and there was even a wind sock! Wind socks crack me up because I have an inside joke with a few members of my senior design team from back in college. Basically, the joke is that on one of our very first glider flight tests in college we saw a windsock, and because we were SO MATURE, we started throwing rocks into it. And now, every time I see a wind sock I laugh because I remember the time we were all huddled around a wind sock and throwing rocks into it haha. Which was probably a horrible idea…
There were so many cool airplanes that you know I had to take those opportunities to stop, catch my breath and take some pictures! It was a great excuse to rest for at least a few seconds haha.
I even met a pilot while running 😉 her name is Renee and she also works at Honeywell with me haha
Photo courtesy of @reneepehr
It was such an amazing feeling seeing that finish line and getting my medal. I will toot my own horn and say that I am super proud of myself for working my way to finishing a 10K. Next step is a 15K, then a half marathon and finally a full marathon!
I’m also super proud of my cousin for joining and finishing with me. She had a baby a few months ago and look at her now. You rock Juana!
It was so much fun to run this 10K and what made it even better was that like most races, there were a lot of different booths with different companies raffling off some pretty cool items. There was one particular booth near the starting line where bed DRS was giving away a free mattress! My cousin didn’t want to fill out the little note card to enter the raffle but I convinced her and I also told her that I should kiss her card to give her good luck. I kissed her card and she also rubbed the note card on my forehead for good luck. And guess what. SHE. FREAKING. WON. THE. MATTRESS.
SHE WON. MY FOREHEAD IS MAGIC! Haha, awesome 10K and it was so cool that she won a mattress!
Well, that’s all folks. The Run the Runway 10K was so much fun and I’ll probably be doing it again next year! I’m well on my way to crossing off a couple more races from my bucket list: 15K, half marathon and then a full marathon. I will definitely be running a few more fun 5Ks so definitely contact me if you’re interested in joining. The next few races I have planned are the the Bubble Run 5K in April and the Esprit de She 5K in May. Let me know if you’d like to join!
Thanks for reading and stay enthusiastic 🙂
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-Maira