Knowing that I was going to be in Chapel Hill on Saturday morning with not much of anything to do, I signed up for this race last week. I figured it would be a nice follow up to the St. Patrick’s Day 8K, and wouldn’t take too much out of me. And that’s what this turned out to be – pretty much just a nice Saturday morning run.

The course was something of a lasso shape, starting and finishing in a middle school parking lot while otherwise running through a neighborhood. Elevation changes were gradual, but enough to push you to a faster pace at the start, which heads downhill for a bit. Of course, this means that the finish is uphill (with the corresponding drop in pace for non-runners like me). Not particularly scenic, but well marked and attended to by volunteers. Water at 2 miles. Slightly surprised homeowners sprinkled throughout.

The field was small, with 250 or so runners. There were no shortage of quick folks – I’m sure there were at least a dozen 6:30 milers at the front. Divisions ran along the usual age/gender lines. Since it was the “Kidney Kare” run, there were additional divisions for donors and recipients (and no, I did not check to see how many people with one kidney beat me. I knew it was hopeless when a woman pushing a dual stroller blew by me . . . ). While it was advertised as a “Run/Walk”, I’d bet that there were less than 20 walkers. But with my So-Long-As-I’m-Not-DFL standard of victory, all I needed was one.

Registration (via Active.com) was $25. In addition to being fully tax deductible*, the $25 got you a long sleeved cotton shirt with a logo containing two running kidneys (I apologize to the Goodwill folks in advance). The race was manually timed (I’d guess that that probably added about :30 of time to those starting in the back), but the results were posted within 10-15 minutes of last finish. There were plenty of lime (gack) gatorade, water, and cookies/bananas at the end. It was a very family friendly atmosphere, and I’d like to think that it netted a few dollars for a worthy cause.

*I’m no tax lawyer (thank god), but I’m not at all clear how the registration can be entirely deductible AND get you a t-shirt. Maybe that’s where that Amgen sponorship comes in . . .