The Bunny Run 5K - Jamestown, RI

My son and I left Boston at 10am for Jamestown, Rhode Island to run the Bunny Run which was to be race #17. We were in Boston visiting BU as my son narrows his choice for his home for the next 4 years. Next week he is off to GW in DC. Boston is a great running city and they were preparing for the Boston Marathon next week. As we were leaving Boston, it was raining lightly, but as we driving south it was coming down a lot harder. We arrived in Jamestown about 1 hour before the race and realized it was going to be a wet one. I noticed the race tent which was threatening to blow away so I headed over to pick up my race number and t-shirts. The tent was also doubling as the post race food table which consisted of 6 bananas & a box of clementines. The woman under the tent told me they weren't using numbers because there were only about 40 runners and they knew everyone in the race. She also said that if they needed to use numbers, they would write in on our hands which they did. I was number 8. I am not sure there were 40 runners in the race. The rain was still coming down at the start and continued throughout the race and with the wind and cold (40 degrees) it wasn't going to be pleasant run. My son was not happy with me, but he is a trooper. I was planning on running the race at his pace and started that way, but when I noticed we were in 2nd & 3rd after 1/4 mile, I told him I would try to catch the guy in front of us. I never did. He was too strong on the hills on a surprisingly hilly course. The finish was along the water into to wind with the rain pelting your face. My second place finish was good for $50 which is the first time I actually won money at a race. It was also my highest finish in a race, but it was no where near my best time for a 5K. Bobby finished in 6th in a time of 25:20. My splits were 6:31 (HR 145), 7:19 (HR 155) & 6:45 (HR 152) finishing in 21:10. We headed back to the car to change and then to the Narragansett Cafe for some post race chili. We didn't stick around too long because we were planning to stop in New Haven for Frank Pepe's pizza. It was still raining and the line at Frank's was 25 deep. I was not waiting so we headed to another place in New Haven which wasn't to far away, Modern Apizza. I can't believe that Frank's could be better because the white clam pie at Modern's was excellent.

This race has a lot of potential to be a great race. It is set a beautiful location and race director Pamela Rodgers did a great job despite the horrible weather. I hope this race is on the New England schedule next year.