There are many people who have had far more numerous experiences than I have in their running lives.  But I would like to think that in my 15 years of running, I have squeezed a number of unusual, and fulfilling, things in.

• Running naked through a forest in Colorado is near the top
• Heartbreak Hill in Boston
• Coaching athletes to meet their own goals
• Winning a number of races of varying distances (mile up to 20 mile trail runs)

These are just to name a few.  But last Friday I had a number of firsts and these all occurred while I ran in a hotdog suit.

The Nebraska State Games Road Race is something I have been involved in for some time now as a volunteer, athlete, or race director.  I gave up directing this race mostly due to the fact that I could not commit the time to it to help it grow into the event I thought it could be.  Ben Cohoon (race director of Market to Market Relay and the Leprechaun Chase 10k) took the reins and when I heard the idea they had to have a Hot Dog Chase (if one person beats the hot dog, all racers get a coupon) I called up Ben to see if he needed a weiner to run.  So that is how I found myself on the starting line, wearing a foam hot dog costume with the heat index hovering around 104 degrees.

With my minute head start I took off hoping to hold the crowd off as long as possible.  I made it over 800m before being overtaken in what was likely a ridiculously uphill battle.  From there it was just fun for me to give out high fives, encourage people to beat the Hot Dog, it was great!  But here are my firsts from the this 5k:

• did not start my watch at the gun
• got a head start over the field
• drank water during a 5k
• gave my wife and son a kiss during the race
• stopped and talked to a friend
• got beat by a dude wearing Five Fingers
• wore a hot dog suit (did I mention that already?)
• did not look at a clock during the race
• got more response to this event than either getting married or having a son

I am not sure I will ever do this again, but the hot dog suit is in my running room and I am bound and determined to see how fast I can go in that damn thing.