Today we did the Lilac 10k up on Mackinaw Island. It was one of those days where you don't really get a lot of sleep and yet you have to be up at 5 a.m despite the fact that you are still tired as hell. So we got up at 5 a.m, saw the sunrise and hunted down some coffee to consume before we boarded the ferry. From there we sat around until the first departure at 7:30 a.m where we followed the massive amount of people to this little school that we never really paid any attention to. Really it was surprising how well kept it was and they even had showers that we could use when the race was done. So of course, we made sure to make use of everything we had at our disposal. 

Once we got to the school we stood in line to get our bibs and from there it was just us waiting around until the race started (it started at 9:30). Of course we had to strip down our comfy warm clothes and into our running clothes. It was pretty chilly so we were walking around mumbling about how cold it was while we went ahead and got a second cup of coffee to warm up and get us ready for this brutel race we were about to take on. 

Let me just say right here that the race is pretty rough the first mile and a half. It starts out on the road and after a half mile of running you start going up this ridiculous hill for almost a mile. Its a lot to take on and I saw people who walked up the entire thing instead of running it. I somehow managed to make it all the way up the hill without stopping but man did my time go up for those first two miles. I felt pretty tired and my calfs were killing me but after a mile of going downhill and having shade it evened out pretty well. 

I managed to finish the race in 54 minutes and I almost placed (I got 4th) in my division which was wonderful to see because I didn't really train for this race. I just did my usual long distance runs and that seemed to be enough. Of course if you are not a runner then I recommend doing the walk instead of the run which is also an option if you just want to take it easy and enjoy the views. 

In conclusion, if you want a challenge as a runner then I recommend doing the 5 or 10k to see how you feel about the run and if you are one of those people who just likes to walk, take your time and enjoy the view then I recommend the walk over the run. You will have a much more enjoyable time and you might even get some of your friends to join you and make some fun memories.