Race Recap: Race for Research 10K

Today I ran the Race for Research 10K, which is organized by the Mayo School of Health Sciences Program in Physical Therapy. I love racing, but I love it even more when I know my money is going to a good cause, so I was happy to learn that all of the proceeds go to the Foundation for Physical Therapy. It was a fairly small race, but I think in the coming years they'll start getting more entries. The course was flat and fast, and the weather was perfect for racing.

I left work an hour early last night to make sure I got enough sleep. My pre-race routine was a little thrown off by the fact that we had no bananas, but I didn't let it phase me too much. We got to Soldier's Field around 8:15 to pick up my race packet, and I got to chat with my friend and roommate from last year, Kim, who's in Mayo's DPT program. I jogged about a half-mile to warm up, stretched, and then headed over to the start line.

Like last week, the race was gun-timed, so I started pretty close to the front. I wasn't sure if I was ready to conquer my sub-50:00 goal yet, but I decided to aim for it anyways, and tried to stay around a 8:00 min/mile pace. My first three mile splits were fantastic:

Feelin' good.

The course was set up as a 5K loop, so the 5K runners ran it once and the 10K runners ran it twice. I tried to ignore all of the 5K runners finishing and made the turn for my second 5K loop. There weren't many 10K runners at all- during mile 4 I could see only one guy in front of me and nobody behind me. The lack of spectators- and people in general, for that matter- didn't do much for my mentality, and my pace started to slow.

No longer feelin' good.

Right around the 5 mile marker there was a switch back, and I noticed there was a woman about 100 meters behind me. I had passed her around mile 2, but she was looking strong. I couldn't recall having seen any women in front of me- if there were any, they had to be waaaaaay in front of me. I knew if I was in first, I'd be ticked if I let this girl pass me- because let's face it, how many times does an average runner like me get a chance to win a race? So I picked up the pace and was able to shake her in the last mile.

Time: 52:02* (New PR!)
Average pace: 8:23
1st female

Shortly after I finished, my name was called- turns out I was top female! My prize was a $30 Trader Joe's gift card, which just so happens to be the same amount the race registration was. In the end, I paid for my race with chocolate covered almonds, wine, and various other goodies.

Random beers, wine, Clif bars, chocolate, dark chocolate-covered almonds,
bananas, coffee, bananas, granola bars, an dried fruit paid for my race.

This race was really small- since the results aren't up, I don't know exact numbers- but I think only 15-20 women ran the 10K. But SO WHAT?! I'm totally owning this win. It's not like I didn't have any close competition, and it involved some serious guts on my part towards the end of the race. So although it's probably a freak occurrence and may never happen again, I'm going to enjoy my moment in the spotlight... perhaps by overindulging in the bottle of wine I bought with my winnings.

My next race is the Spring Fling Diva Run 10K on April 28th. I'm going to be ready to run that sub-50:00 10K!


What was the highlight of your week?

When is your next race?