The 10K: 6.2 miles, 25 laps on the track, 2 5ks, and way too far for some people. Robyn would likely never run a 10k since it goes way beyond her racing distance limit, but for me it's a fun change of pace. All spring, my friend and training partner Jillian has been running and racing to stay in shape for her wedding, and we ran this race as a final push just one week before she got hitched.
This race was sponsored by Girls On The Run, and held in the beautiful Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence. The event itself offered a 5k and a 10k, which was just 2 laps around the park. Prior to the race, I'd taken a look at the 2013 results and knew that I had a chance of winning something. I arrived right on time and warmed up and did strides with plenty of time before the start. The first mile included a hairpin turn and I was able to see about 8 women ahead of me. This was a smaller race and I was excited to see only a handful of women in front of me, especially because I assumed most of them would be only running the 5k. As we looped around the park, my mile splits were pretty even: I started out at 7:20, then hit 7:30 and 7:30. At about 2.5 miles, I came up on a young runner and chatted with her for a little bit. I didn't get her name, but she is in 7th grade, loves cross country and had a 24:00 5k PR. As we closed in on the 5k finish together, my watch told me that this girl was about to run an PR, and I cheered her on as she finished around 23:30.
As my new buddy cross the finish line, I followed the path to continue on for the 10k. This is where the race got tricky, since my finish line was the same, but my starting line was not at the finish line. My Garmin watch had already told me that the mile markers were off (even if the Garmin is right, one must abide by those incorrect race markers), but with such a discrepancy between loop 1 and loop 2, I knew I was about to run more than 10 kilometers. It was a hot day, and my mile splits were starting to slow down: 7:42, 7:59. Not too embarrassing, but I knew I could do better. I took water around mile 4, but the heat and loneliness of the 10k were still getting to me. Approaching the final turns and hills of the second loop, I started kicking. My watch beeped 6 miles (7:24!) way before I saw the 6-mile sign on the course, so I paid attention to my watch, and I hit 10k at 46:55. There was still a ways to go until the actual finish line, and I crossed that at 48:30. I got some water and turned around to cheer for Jillian as she finished. I knew that she wouldn't be happy with her time, so as she finished I yelled to her not to worry about her time because the race was long. Definitely got some weird looks for that one...
So even with our "slow" times due to running more than a 10k, it turns out she and I took 1-2 in our Age Group! There was even a little ceremony and podium, but most people had left after the 5k awards so we didn't get to bask in all of our glory. Nonetheless, we did get medals, a few good pictures and some serious tan lines.
And then a week later, Jillian got married. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were able to hide our sports bra tans well enough for the pictures. Photographic evidence:
So we ran a race and celebrated a marriage. What will happen after the next 10k?
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