Tap N Run Race Report

Last night I ran the Tap N Run 4k in Indianapolis.  I ran this one last year and had a blast so I knew I wanted to do it again this summer.  Tap N Run (TNR) is unlike any other race.  First it’s a 4k.  And they have beer chug stations instead of water stations.  It’s a huge party environment, plenty of crazy costumes.  It starts and ends smack in the middle of the bar district of downtown.

Now, I’m an All-Star for my miles team and this was All-Star week.  I run Sunday – Saturday so this race would be my last few miles for the week.  I ran 71 miles for the week, 20 of that being Saturday.  I was exhausted after that long run and just laid in bed for an hour after my ice bath.  Based on how I was feeling, I was planning on taking the TNR easy as my legs felt shot.

My husband and I ride down to the race with my friend Jerry and Coach.  Brett (DH) and Coach were not running.  Jerry was but was going slow and we were meeting up with my friend Halle who was racing it but slower.  The whole starting line area is packed with costumed runners, so much so that it’s hard to maneuver around.  Brett gets me a beer, which I finish just before the start of the race.  I move up to Wave 1 (this is a timed event but you had to pay $3 extra to be timed).  I decided that my legs were feeling good and I was going to race this, hoping to at least get an AG award. I lined up in the front row!!  Me and four guys.  Everyone in wave 1 is given a little cup of beer, probably a double shot size, and we count down from 10, chug and we’re off!

I start off fast and am quickly passed by 6 people, one who was a girl.  This group flies down the road and I lose sight of them pretty quickly.  I get past by a few more people but I’m feeling good.  The police were doing an excellent job with keeping the traffic stopped so the runners could get through the intersections safely.   Soon I see the first Chug Station and I tore off my #1 tab on my bib and grabbed a cup from the volunteer.  I see my favorite radio DJ at the end of the station so I stopped to talk to him.  He let me know that one girl was in front of me by 100 yards and that she didn’t stop to drink.  He congratulated me on being a champion as I was drinking!  I finish up the chat and start running again.  I got passed by a few guys but no women at this point.  Mile 1 was 8:24 (including the beer stop so I know it was under 7:50)

The traffic around Lucas Oil Stadium was very heavy as a large high school had their graduation ceremony inside and it had just let out.  But the police gave runners the right away so it didn’t slow me down.  The pedestrians walking around got out of our way as well.  I was running pretty much along, able to keep one guy in my sight but I had no one close to me.  The beer starts to feel gross in my stomach and I wanted to slow up some.  Then I realized that only wave 1 was timed so I really was racing only against the people who started with me (last year I started in wave 1 but some faster women were in other waves who ended up placing instead of me).  Now that I knew that I could get 2^nd place overall female – I was not letting that chance go!  I see the next chug station and grab the first beer and start drinking.  I turned around and saw a group about 20 yards from the station with a few women in it.  Well, I’m not being passed now so I finish the beer and take off.  One more turn and I know that the finish line will be very soon.  Mile two was 8:03.

I keep pushing hard and tick off the road names in my head.  I see the bar that my DH was at, holding a table to me and there’s the finish line!  I kick it to finish but a lady with a bulldog wearing a tutu walked in front of the finish line!  But she moved quickly when she saw that I wasn’t going to move around her!  I finish and grab my medal from the volunteer, panting hard.  The women passes out medals and collecting the last beer tabs from my bib kept saying congrats on finishing 2^nd!  I was pretty darn happy and got my last beer (full one this time).  I forgot to stop the Garmin. I did scan the QR Code on my bib and saw that I finished in 18:59, 14^th place, 2^nd over all woman.  Woo-hoo!!

DH shows up and congratulates me.  He was shocked that I ran so fast after my long week of running.  I wait around at the finish line party area for my other friends and make small talk with others around me.  The awards ceremony takes forever to get started.  I eat a chicken sandwich that DH ordered for me.  While I was waiting, I scanned my bib again and it now showed that I was 1^st place female.  I didn’t understand that as I knew the girl passed me.  I figured it was a mistake.  Finally after all the awards for best mustache, costume and burp were given out, they gave out the “skinny people in short shorts who ran very fast” awards.  The announcer listed the top 5 females, saying my name as #1!  I jumped up on stage, more excited than I’ve been in a long time and was given a HUGE HEAVY glass beer mug with Tap N Run, 1^st place engraved on it.  I’m so thrilled that I wasn’t even trying to act cool.

After I left the stage, the woman who had passed me, stopped me.  She asked if I had been chipped and I told her yes.  Her husband said “well, that explains it, you weren’t chipped honey.”  I told her that I knew she passed me and finished in front of me and that I was very surprised to have won.  She congratulated me and said it was her own fault for not paying for the timed event.  I felt a teeny-bit bad but not really.  You can’t expect to win an award if you didn’t enter the timed portion, right?

Anyways, the rest of the night was fun times with my friends and DH.  I carried that beer mug everywhere, showing it off to anyone who looked sideways at me!  Pretty darn good way to top off my All-Star week!

Dem's the rules! Glad you profited from them. Officially first. I suppose you could say you were chugging along during the race.  The photos tell the whole story.

I really wanted to go to that race.  It sounds like a lot of fun.  Sounds like you killed it.  Excellent job running fast with a belly full of beer.  I haven't tried it, but I do love me some beer.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!   Great OA female win and super cool mug!   Also the finishing metal is pretty darned cute too!

Congrats! That's awesome!

That photo is pure exuberance.  Congratulations on an awesome fun race!

OK.  I'm confused.  The first two miles went by in roughly 16:30 total so how did  you run that last mile in 2:30?

Never mind.  Just figured it out.  Doh!

Sweet bling.  Very, very cool.

Great job, Mary!  Congrats.