A glimpse of what was been typical that week...
I really wanted to document more about this race with photos of everything... and then it was pouring. The on and off precipitation that has been the weather of the week was definitely ON that morning. It poured on my drive to the park, and I got there, got parking, and sat in my car until it was about 15 minutes until my start time. I arrived, I stood under a shelter for a bit, and then it was do or die.
Lining up at the starting line, I noticed that the mats you have to run over for your timing chip to signal your race starting was in the middle of a muddy patch of grass. Awesome. A sign of good things to come!
The first two miles of the run were like a mud run obstacle course. Well, they're what I imagine a mud run would be like, except I don't voluntarily elect to run in the mud. Generally. But it wasn't so bad. I knew when a big puddle was coming when the sea of runners in front of me would part, scattering and picking up their feet, dodging the water. But then, there was one puddle once we hit the trail in the woods beyond the park that was completely unavoidable. It stretched across the entire path, was several yards long, and surrounded by mud on either side. It was wet. Very, very, wet.
Although my feet felt like cold bricks for the first mile or two, it then started to miraculously clear up! I didn't feel very fast on my run, but I still managed to keep a sub-10 minute mile pace and finish in about an hour - not terrible!
Overall, here was my result:
Time: 1:00:20
Pace: 9:44/mile
Place: 16/41 in age group, 105/389 overall
So not bad! No PR, but a very strong effort, especially considering the conditions. Two of my friends got third place in their respective age groups as well, which is really awesome. Here is the "after" pic of us with our medals:
And then finally, we got a celebratory brunch. Mmmmmm pancakes and eggs.
Success :)
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