Date/Location: | 1/1/20 Overlook Park, Auburn |
Distance: | < 10 mi Trails |
Time: | 1: 1:27:58 (PR 1:16:04, 2011) |
Place: | 3rd (W40-49); 5th OA |
Teammates: | 10Mile: Anna Soares, Manouch Shirvanioun, Troy Soares, Wyatt Hamilton |
We had a nice quiet morning as a family. On our drive over to the start Anna’s friend Hunter calls us from the race wondering where we are. Uh-oh! I tell Troy to check the start time for the 10 miler. 12pm! 10 minutes from now! I never checked the race details to see that the race starts an hour earlier this year! I drop off Troy and the girls to get our race numbers and I park the car. Amazingly we have time to check in, say hi to a few friends, get race t-shirts, pray with Ariel and get to the starting line. Thanking God for His amazing provision!
Ready, set, go! We are off! Troy, Anna and I start out together. It’s nice being together. Anna and Troy talk about pace as we run downhill. He tells her that once she starts climbing expect the average pace to tick up to about 8:20. I don’t even know the pace I ran last year so decide at least sub 8:30 pace would be great. Anna asks if she can stick with him and she says yes. Funny how we are making plans on the fly today…literally! I see a few girls ahead but didn’t really pay attention to see who took off in the front pack. We pass one of the girls.
Mile 1 is 7:06. Nice downhill pace!
The course flattens out some. We are still together. I don’t know how long I can keep up. As the road heads back down, Troy and Anna pull away. They pass the last visible girl and I follow their lead a few minutes later. We are heading down to run back up my favorite hill, Cardiac By-Pass. I usually catch runners on this stretch and maybe I can get closer to Troy and Anna.
MIle 2 is 7:09. I start on Cardiac By-pass. After the first few turns of the trail, I don’t even see Anna and Troy! Wow! I push it and pass a few guys in the beginning. One guy is running with me at the same pace. I’m impressed. I catch a few more including another woman towards the top. I never see Troy and Anna!
As I get back to the road and it flattens out, I can see Anna and then Troy in the distance. The from Cardiab By-Pass has pulled ahead.
Mile 3 is 9:03. I see that the course is a bit different here. Instead of taking a short and narrow trail to cut over to DAM Road and head downhill, we follow the road to the top of the DAM Road. This is a tougher route because the road is a slight uphill. I look at my watch. It’s 12:30. That’s when the 5Kers start. I bet with this route, we’ll no longer be merging with the top 5K runners but rather those in middle of the pack… which will be large!
MIle 4 is 8:26. Sure enough, I round the last corner and I see a huge group of runners going down the DAM Road. As I head down, I run past FCA Teammate Caryn Galeckas and pat her on the back. I dodge runners all the way down the DAM Road. I look for Ariel but she is no where in sight. I pass her friend Ashley Glass. I’m surprised that I cannot even see Ariel’s yellow shirt in the distance. Wow, she’s moving! I can still see Anna, though, from time to time. I’m not too confident that I’ll be able to catch her.
MIle 5 is 7:26. I’m still slightly at sub 8 min pace. The trail is slightly flat and I get moving past more 5K runners. As the trail heads back uphill, I pass Tuesday Track friend, Elizabeth Katsura, almost without realizing it. I tell her good job as I go by and I realize it’s her!
Where is Ariel? I get to the point where the 5Kers head back to the finish and we go right. There she is, climbing up the big hill! “Go Ariel! Great job! Go Ariel!” I think she must be able to hear me but she doesn’t look back or even make a motion. That girl is focused and running strong!
Mile 6 is 9:15. I see the 10K runners coming back. There is a woman in 3rd! I see Anna’s teammate, Hunter Glass, heading back in the top 5! “Great job Hunter!” As I see other girls come along in the 10K, I tell them their place. I get up to the top 5 females before my course veers off. I see another teammate, Suzanne Hartley, up ahead and tell her great job.
Since the course was a bit different in the beginning, I’m wondering where the turn around is. Will I see if there are any other women ahead of Anna and I? Will I see Troy and Anna? As I come around Robie Point, I can see there is no one directing the runners and minimal markings. The guy from Cardiac By-Pass pauses and asks another runner where to go. I can see most folks are turning right and going away from Robie Point. That is the usual course but I don’t know if something else might be different. Right at that moment my neighbor Cindy Cranney says hi. I was in a fog for a moment. I tell her hi back.
I go right and see Troy heading back. He tells me it’s a short out and back. I ask are you sure? He says yes. Anna comes along soon too. I tell her good job and we give each other high fives.
Mile 7 is 8:43. I come up on the turn around. Boy, it sure is earlier than normal!
I head back to Robie Point in time to see Anna climbing up. She’s looking strong. By the time I get up to the top of Robie, I catch up to Cindy and tell her good job!
It’s up and over! This is the steepest downhill of the course and I do my best to sort of run and hop as fast as I can down.
Mile 8 is 9:16. I run back over to where the 5K runners veered off. I try to pass as many people along the way before the trail narrows. As the trail narrows, i ask politely to many walkers to let me pass on the left. They are so gracious and nice about it. It must be so annoying for them!
I’m feeling really strong and push hard when the trail opens up. I get stuck here and there but it only lasts a very brief moment.
Mile 9 is 9:27. My average pace is just over 8:30. I might be able to bring that down some. I pass Caryn again and tell her good job. This last mile is definetly the toughest passing zone. I sense another runner following and look back to see a 10K gal. As I continue asking nicely to pass on the left, I tell folks “there are 2 of us”.
The last climb of the race is cut short this year and we turn off onto another trail that goes around the Overlook. I like this trail but it’s super hard to pass folks. I run in the bushes just to get by folks. I finally make it off the trail and it opens up. I sprint under the overpass and turn to the finish line. I push hard and see Troy and the girls cheering. I smile. I see a few little ones giving high 5s and I cannot resist. As I cross the finish line I look up to God. Thank you Lord for a great race! I’m done and just 0.3miles shy of 10 miles. The course is a bit short but they can easily fix that next year. Time to cheer in Caryn and Suzanne and others!