Today we got everyone out of the house for the Twin Cities Marathon Family Day events at the state capitol grounds. The weather wasn’t great (cold and rainy), but more than 5,000 other brave souls turned out for the 10K (new this year), 5K, Diana Pierce Family Mile, Half Mile, Toddler Trot and Diaper Dash.

Colleen walked the 5K with a group from Allina and finished in 59:02 (19:00 pace). The 5K was won by Mathew Chesang in 15:30 (5:00), while Meghan Armstrong took the women’s 5K title with a time of 16:45 (5:24). There were 1,989 finishers (850 men and 1,139 women), with an average time of 35:04.

Here are a few other results from people we knew in the 5K:

• Chris Hlusak, 20:45 (6:41)
• Trevor Huinker, 30:00 (9:40)
• Rebecca Schutz, 34:57 (11:15)
• Sarah Hlusak, 57:51 (18:37)

The inaugural 10K was won by Evgeny Beletskiy in 33:49 (5:27). Ariella Gottfried was the first women to cross the finish line with a time of 36:32 (5:53). There were 1,215 finishers (458 men and 757 women) and the average time was 59:50.

We also had a few friends in the 10K:

• Jake Schutz, 53:15 (8:35)
• Amy Schmidt, 1:07:09 (10:49)

Our kids both decided to run in the one mile race this year and we all had the opportunity to meet Diana Pierce before the race. Deerwood had a smaller crowd this year, but it was great to see everyone.

I stopped in at the expo two more times today – once to get an event poster signed by the artist and later in the day with my neighbor Gina (who will be running her first marathon with me tomorrow). It’s amazing how much free junk you get at those things – even more when you bring kids along.

Pictures from today have been uploaded to Facebook and the private section of the 7MM photo gallery – email me if you need access to either.

Pasta dinner tonight, then off to the Metrodome (er, “Mall of America Park”) in the morning for the 28th running of the Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America…