I participated in the Run Thru History for the second time this year (my first time being two years ago, a few months after getting back into running, and this was my first race since high school). There was a great turnout and I had lots of friends participating in both the 10K run and 5K walk. The kiddos were signed up to do the 1-mile Fun Run, but James spent a few hours vomiting the night before and woke up feeling weak and feverish, so Jay stayed home with them both while I ran. I got there super early because I had completely forgotten to pick up my race bib the night before (I didn't even think about it until I was setting out my running gear for the race - oops), so I had time to do a couple miles as warm-up (and add some mileage to my Saturday, since it's usually a long run day), then stand around chatting. I never really felt nervous for this race (probably because I had just run a 24-miler two weeks ago, and wasn't sure whether I'd be racing and pushing myself or just running it for fun). Christina asked me right before the start what my plan was, so I told her that I was planning to race at 9:00 pace or below because I knew I could do it (if I can do for 13.1 miles, I can certainly do for 6.2, even on tired legs), but that if something hurt or my legs felt too heavy, that I'd just slow down and ease into the finish. The first mile was a blur of elbows, but I kept my sights on Sophie's sparkly blue skirt, and just tried not to fall too far behind, clocking an 8:27. The next mile brought us up the "Louisiana hill" and I ran the whole thing, though my legs felt like spaghetti at the top. Because of the nice, long downhill immediately after though, I got another 8:27 - how's that for consistency? Mile 3 was 8:51 and included a quick water stop (at which point I lost sight of Sophie, but spied Lori up ahead). Then I started to get tired... Mile 4 was 9:09. Mile 5 was 9:17. Both those miles included a little uphill walking and another water stop. Then I started to get mad at myself. I know I can run these hills. And it's SUPPOSE to hurt when you're racing, not feel like a training run. So I picked it up for the 6th mile and hit 8:32, then sprinted the last 0.2 mile to the finish at a 7:42 pace. My overall pace ended up averaging 8:48 (total Garmin time of 54:37, which I'm counting as official for my personal records because the RTH does not use chip timers), so I hit my goal of staying at 9:00/mile or below, but I was still a little disappointed to have gone over 9:00 a couple times, especially since I know it's because I walked some of the steepest uphill portions. Oh well. Still a 10K PR by over 3 minutes and a course PR by over 11 minutes. And I had fun. And that's really all that matters.
Here are a few photos taken by Paul Ingram Running Event Photos. Nice of him to position himself at the top of a hill to capture our best form and faces as we struggled up it...
And here's one taken by Al, as I was waving and talking to his kids. Note to self: perhaps stripes are not the best attire for race day photos...
As for the real official results, I had far too many friends running to list them all here, but know that Kristi placed 1st and Sophie placed 3rd in our age group, and Lori placed 1st in hers! Wish I could have been there to cheer them in! ...except I was still running the race ;-)
Here are a few of the times so I can brag on my awesome running buddies:
Kristi 42:14, Sophie 52:51, Lori 53:38, Denise 54:49, Michelle 55:30, Christina 56:08, Amy 57:14, and Lee 57:55. Michelle's husband Tom won overall with a 37:40. And I was just proud that I made it into the south loop this year without having the front runners coming out to the finish already!
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