Nailed It.

She did it! She ran 5 whole Ks without stopping!

She got tired. She doubted herself. But she kept putting one foot in front of the other and she crossed the finish line with her hands in the air and a smile on her face.

What could be better than that?

OK, the chocolate chip cookie at the finish line and the free beer didn't suck.

It feels so good to watch someone get their goal. To reach deep down in and find what it takes to finish what was started. To see that moment of satisfaction and pride sneak out, in spite of all efforts to contain in or hide it in self-depreciation.

Way to go, girl! YOU did it.

Way to go, Martha! 

Review of Summit Credit Union's Haunted Hustle, Middleton: 
Cost: $38 for registering well past any early bird discounts. A bit steep, but worth it.

Organization: Held at Keva Sports Complex ... plenty of parking, enough bathrooms, well marked course, easy packet pickup, chip timing. Everything went very smoothly. Website was really well done and helpful.

5K Course: Part road, part bike trail. Not a lot of actual traffic to deal with. VERY flat. Would be a great walking course if you don't feel like running. Would be great for a group of friends with different performance levels. Some could walk, some could run, some could do 10K. And the party at the end is just a bonus!

Options: 5K and 10K on Saturday, starting at 4:30 p.m. Half and Full Marathon on Sunday, starting at 9 a.m. and 8 a.m. respectively. Also included a kids' race and stroller derby.

Extras: Expo had good vendors and nice swag. They had stuff for kids (face painting and bib decorating, etc.) and there were a lot of families or kids/parents running. Party after race was cool ... band was really good. Fun to race in afternoon and party into the dinner hours. I'd venture a guess that 75% of racers were in some sort of costume or Halloween gear, which was fun. I didn't participate in that, but looking at all the costumes was a great "distraction" on the actual run and made the time go really fast.

Weather: Could not have been more perfect. Sunny, warm, windy, but no one noticed.

Medal/Tshirt: Awesome! They glow in the dark! Yeah, I know my $38 went toward this, but I don't care.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. And while the early bird registration would save some $$, I might wait until race week/day to register. Late October in Wisconsin can be a bit dangerous.