10K Trail Run Race Report and a PR

Today I slept in, fixed the leaking water heater and took my youngest daughter with me to my first ever 10K race.  As I mentioned earlier, I just wanted to get through it uninjured, pacing to finish in around 50 minutes.

I left my house late, rushed through a few errands and picked up my dad.  On the way to the race I even thought about just getting my shirt and going home.  I rode hard last night and was sore this morning.  My hip and knee have been cranky lately.  But as I got closer, I began to get a bit excited.

But, I'd never been to the race area and it was a lot farther away than expected.  I planned on showing up 40 minutes before the start time, but made it just in time, literally.  I didn't even have time to warm up!

The race was small, just over 100 participants for the 5K and 10K combined.  There weren't many of us starting the second leg of the 10K.  The start was split into two categories, fast and slow.  Since it was a trail run and getting dark early, they gave some the option of starting an hour earlier to ensure enough day light to finish safely.

At the start one man took off.  He ended up finishing in just over 38 minutes.  I spoke with him after the race and he was quite gracious.  I can say that generally speaking, runners are nicer than cyclist.

I was in second for the first mile and then a teenager passed me.  I tried to keep him in my sights provided he didn't take off.  The course started climbing just a touch, which is where I feel faster than down hill.  I caught the kid and passed him.  Pretty soon he was a long way behind me, and soon after that I couldn't see him anymore.

I ran most of the race this way.  I forgot my watch and lost track of my pace and between the 4th and 5th miles found myself barely working.  I'd drifted off and started day dreaming.  I looked back and the kid was there.  I stepped it back up and finished strong at 47:47.  It was a lot of fun finishing because my wife, daughter and father were there.  My wife and daughter were on opposite sides of the path and I zig-zagged giving each a high five before crossing the finish line.

I finished second over all and first in my age group.  I was thrilled to finish without much pain.  I earned myself a small gift certificate and my wife won a raffle.

Afterwards my dad took us out to dinner and my mother joined us.  What a great day!