New Years Eve fun

I was finally able to find out that the New Years Eve 5K in Jackson was not taking place this year.  I did the New Years Eve Flash Mob 5K in downtown Ann Arbor.  It was fun.  This was an informal, untimed run.  It was cold and snowing.  The start/finish was at a bar.  I went to the front door and thought I was in the wrong place.  I walked in behind two women in short skirts and high heels!  The doorman said I was in the right place and told me how to get to the room in the back which is where the race was starting.  We were on an enclosed patio which is meant for warm weather use.  They had large kerosene heaters to warm the room.  There were televisions around the room and we watched the ball drop from New York City and then took off out the back door to start our new years with running!  You can see the snow covered street through the window behind me in the picture below:

Before running on New Years Eve

There was a costume contest.

New Years Eve costume winners

There was a puck drop this year.  A giant lighted hockey puck dropped at midnight over on Main Street, a couple of blocks away.  As we began running, many people were heading either to their cars, homes or some other place so there were a lot of people walking on the sidewalks.  People were high fiving the runners!  That was fun!  A few people were wondering what the heck was going on, some were annoyed with people running down the sidewalks.  At one point in the run I saw a large group of people in one spot.  One man moved out from the group and his leg looked weird.  I realized that he was extending his leg to trip me with his foot!  Yes, he was trying to trip me!  I jumped over his foot.  I'm glad I realized in time to avoid face-planting on the street!  One person yelled out, "what is this 5K for?"  I yelled back, "New Years Eve."  I wish I would have thought to yell out something crazy such as "Fourth of July" or something totally stupid like "to save the whales" or something other than the logical answer! 
After the run there was a breakfast bar!  I wasn't hungry but ate eggs, bacon, chicken nuggets (not sure why) and a pretzel stick. 
It had been snowing all afternoon and snowed the entire time I was there.  It was a slow drive home with 4 wheel drive used until I got to the highway and then again in the last few miles to home.  I gave my friend a ride home; she had walked to the run.  I did not know where she lived but she lives outside of the downtown area and had quite a walk there.  With taking her home and the bad roads, I didn't get home until 3:30 AM! 
So, once again, I began a new year on a run!  It wasn't as fun as the New York City Midnight Run in Central Park.  There were 60 some runners as opposed to 4000 in New York!  I am still hoping to get back there one of these years.  I was planning to this year but it just wasn't possible.  Maybe next year. 
Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2014 - Runner Nerd's year of the half marathon!!

Runner Nerd
began 2014 running