On Saturday morning, Mike and I headed up to Beaver, PA to participate in the 25th annual Run for Humanity, which is a fundraiser for their local Habitat for Humanity group.
It was a bit of a drive - about an hour, and the Parkway East was closed, but a fairly pleasant one as it was too early for too many people to be out and about (though we did pass the airport, which did have a bit of associated traffic, but still not bad at an early hour). The forecast was for high forties or low fifties, a slight breeze, and plenty of sun, so while I briefly considered wearing a tank again, I ended up deciding on my SCRR t-shirt instead with my capris and other normal running gear. I probably could have been fine with the tank in retrospect, but I didn't get to a point where I was uncomfortably warm in the tee, so no big deal either way. I wasn't sure about wearing my Launch 4s for 6 miles, but apparently I've mentally designated those my 'race shoes' (though I'll likely go for something cushier for the half) and that's what I wore here, though they didn't make it into my 'flat me' picture:
Thanks to a successfully-executed wake-up plan, we arrived at the park where the race was being held about two minutes before bib pickup was supposed to start, and it looked like not only were things moving along smoothly already, but that there was plentiful offstreet free parking not too far from the park - always a bonus!
I kept my sweats on since it was still pretty chilly, and we meandered over to the park and snagged our bibs and goody bags. Nothing too exciting, though we did get some pretty nice t-shirts from this one - tech, and not the ones where you can tell where it was the slightly-less-expensive option. Mine's a little roomier than expected (the cheapie ones fit a bit smaller/stretch less and I've started anticipating that, apparently) but I'll almost definitely wear this one again! Nice simple design in a color that's not too common (pictured above). The chips for this race were velcro ankle straps - not my favorite option, but not unmanageable, either.
Since we still had plenty of time to burn, we ambled down Third Street, which is a quaint little downtown business district that I wished we'd had more time to explore. A lot of the businesses weren't open (it was just a little after 8) yet though the bakery was, and emanating lots of delicious smells! We also walked past the local (truly local, not a chain) running shop and some other cute shops that I'd have gone into if the circumstances had been right. After a little wheel around the block we stopped at the car to drop off our shirts and bags, then wandered back to the park to get in line for the bathrooms, which I realized later on were very TARDIS-esque porta-potties.
They'd given us a copy of the race course (which I'd actually found online earlier in the morning, but the USATF site was down!), and we found out that the 10K was effectively the 5K twice, minus going to/from the start/finish line. I suspected that would leave us a little short unless they started the 5K way closer to the first turn than the 10K (which was taking off a few minutes earlier to give us a head start). So I was already mentally preparing to tack on a little extra to get the 10K for Strava/Garmin/etc.
By that point we'd basically wasted most of the time left before the 10K was about to start so we headed back to the car for one last drop-off of warm clothes, I changed into my shoes, and we did a quick lap around the park for a warm-up. The race had offered a warm-up routine in the park, but with all our other shenanigans we missed it (and probably would have opted for running a short jaunt anyway). With about 10 minutes left I realized I'd left my chip strap in the car and jogged back over to get that, then did one last wait in line for the bathrooms, and then it was time to start!
They backed us up, as I expected, from the "official" start/finish area, and there were only slightly more than a dozen of us toeing the line for the 10K. As they explained the turns of the course (and confirmed they were marked and staffed with volunteers - thank goodness!) they also warned us to run against traffic, so it was clear this was definitely a less-formal course, but I hoped that since there weren't too many of us, it wouldn't be an issue. And then, with the blast of an air horn, we were off!
Four of us (two other women, me, and one guy) formed a small pack pretty quickly, while one incredibly skinny girl and a young guy took off way in front. Mike followed that guy, and they were all quickly out of our sight. Our little pack managed to stick together for the first couple turns until we hit the mile mark, and made some amiable chatter, which was nice. The ladies had run this particular part of the course previously in another race and warned us that the long segment along the river was uphill, which was good to know. Quick looks at my watch showed that I was basically going a bit faster than my 5K PR pace, so I knew it wasn't really sustainable, but with so few people I was going to hang onto the energy of the group for as long as I had it, since I so rarely get to run with other folks during races (my pace, no matter what it is, seems to be uniquely odd in one way or another). Mile 1: 9:16.
At the first mile, one of the other women held back to take off her long-sleeved shirt - the sun was strong and I was glad I hadn't opted for the longer shirt in the early-morning cool weather. The guy took off ahead of us and then it was just me and one other lady. I managed to hold onto her until about halfway through the hill at around the 1.5 mile mark. It was a long, slow grade and it definitely gets to you after a while! I let her go at that point and then it was just me, the occasional person walking a dog, sporadic traffic, and the road. Mile 2: 9:54.
Thankfully the turns were marked well, and for the most part did have the promised volunteers providing guidance. Mile 3: 10:14. I passed a guy who looked to be about my age but was struggling a bit, and then we were back to the point where the 5Kers would be turning right and heading back to the park, and the 10Kers went out for another loop in seemingly no time. I definitely missed the company the second time around, but as I came back around to the river and hit the hill again, suddenly there were lots of people on the course! The 5K was a run/walk, and I'd found all the walkers. Mile 4: 9:59. Not too much of a problem, though having to move into the middle of the road to pass them (and their dogs and strollers) made me antsy a couple times when there was also an oncoming car, but overall it was manageable.
Somewhere on the long hill they'd posted a photographer - I had to laugh because for us 10K folks that was probably the most pained we were going to look! But I found enough energy to smile and wave and even pick up my pace a little bit - or so it felt, anyway. Mile 5: 10:45. This was the point where I got passed by the oldest 10K racer, who had clearly been holding back and planned to leave us in the dust! Oh well - good for him! I kept him in my sights for a while but eventually he got far enough in front of me that I just had to keep picking off 5Kers for fun instead. A couple more of them passed me, and somewhere around the point that there was just a half mile left, my legs were feeling distinctly toasty. I was glad to be just about done. Mile 6: 10:46.
As I approached the point where I would finally get to turn back to the finish line (where we continued on for a second loop on the first pass), the volunteer asked me "5K or 10K?" and I was like, "10, but I'm on my second loop!" - it was an hour into the race at that point, so I may have been a bit snarky about it. Oh well! Mike had already finished and was waiting for me down on that corner, and followed along as I tried to kick a bit to the finish. I picked it up some, but my assessment about the state of my legs was pretty correct - not a lot left! I could see the clock was just over an hour, but not much.
Keeping an eye on my Garmin, I paused it as I crossed the finish - 6.12 miles, short as expected. The timing guy almost reflexively asked me to put my chip in the bin, so I moved over, yanked the thing off (velcro, woo) and chucked it in the bin as I told him the course was short. "How much?" he asked and I said, "I've got 6 point 1!" and he said "6 point 1-what?" to which I replied "one two!" as I toggled my watch back on and took off up the street. Annoyed that he stopped me to replace the chip (though I was expecting it as soon as I saw they were using reusable ones), but I turned up around the corner and kept going until my watch had 6.21 before stopping it for an actual 10K finish time. Final .2 in ~1:37.
Finish: Official time - 1:01:50, Garmin time - 1:02:37
That's a PR of about a minute per mile over my previous effort about a year and a half ago!
Met up with Mike and raided the sponsor tables, which had wisely provided awesome post-race snacks: mini Reese cups and Snickers, pretzels, and the ubiquitous Smiley cookies (full size, so I passed this time). He let me know he'd come in third overall and had been there basically the entire race, but that the two young kids who'd taken off way in front right away at the beginning had not, as we'd both assumed, worn themselves out and instead had basically blown everyone else away! And not only that, but the "girl" was actually likely a bit older than she looked, though he hadn't gotten a good look at her face. We chatted and kept our legs moving as we headed back to the car so I could pull on my sweats again and change shoes.
I'd scoped out the past turnout for the 10Ks (while they've been doing the 5K for quite some time, this is only the third year for the 10K, as far as I can tell), and in its first year, 6/20 participants were in the F 30-39 age group, while last year only 1/15 were. So it was a bit of a gamble as far as whether I'd manage to snag a medal, but based on what I'd seen I was pretty sure the woman who I'd started with as well as one other who was a bit ahead of us the whole time were both in my group. After we waited around a bit, they posted results, and much to our surprise... the winning "girl" (who was at most 5' tall and maybe 95 pounds soaking wet) was at the very top of my age group!
That left me in 4th overall in a division that made up 6 out of the 15 total runners! Normally at a race, you'd see the top 3 pulled out of age group standings, but it didn't look like they were going with that approach this time, and with so few participants it probably didn't make sense for them to, but it was a little disappointing. However, Mike got to go up and claim his 3rd place overall medal (which they awarded as first in his age group? You can tell these folks aren't super race-oriented, haha), so that was pretty exciting, and since I got the PR I was going for, I was still pretty pleased too!
After that we had just enough time to wander back down the street to that bakery, grab a snack and hot beverage, and head back home! I had a haircut that I was just barely not going to be late for, but ended up going to in my sweats and the race shirt, because after snagging a quick shower at Mike's I didn't have time to go home and change. All worked out in the end, though!
As far as ramifications for planning for the half, as much as I hate it I think I might need to start running more long, steady hills. I know the half itself is quite hilly, and those slowed me down more than I'd like today. I'm not sure I was really at 100%, though the first 5K felt really good, and I'd love to turn in an as-good or better-than Pittsburgh time in November. I've still got eight weeks to adjust and train, and so I'm glad this 10K (and the one in Week 13) are here, so I can measure myself and hopefully see some progress.
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