This race was on the PA circuit, meaning a deep field, a good course, and (supposedly) a well-organized race overall. I was hoping to run something in the 5K-10K range around this time, so poof! Perfect. (Even more so because I'd never run a certified 8K before so I had no real expectations.)
And then what happened?
One of my research teams got a paper accepted to a pretty major conference & the conference was Thursday April 21-Monday April 25 in San Diego. It would have been no problem for me to go if our session had been on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Monday. But no; we got Sunday.
Fortunately, there was a virtual option and I wasn't all that excited about the rest of the conference, so our team agreed that we would present virtually. The race was at 8:30am so unless something went horrifically wrong, I'd be done running by 9:10ish. The first session slot was 9:45am and the next one was 11:30am, and it would be no problem to be home & presentable by 11:30am. "Surely," I thought, "there is no way my luck is so bad that our session would not only be on Sunday morning, but also the ONLY slot that I couldn't possibly get home in time for.
Welp.
