Sango Scamper


Chuck, Brittany, Denise and Jim

I am still excited about my 10K today. I ran this same course back in June, in the heat and humidity. It was my first 10K so I was pretty happy with my time of 1:17:53.

Today, it was 43F at the start with wind from the NW. I met up with my Half training group, Chuck told us before we ever got there that he wanted us to do a mile warm up. We passed Chuck coming back in from his warm up as we went out for ours. got us out for our warm up and we were set. The lady who owns the running store, Michelle, was there and asked if I was running with her at the back of the pack. I asked her pace and laughed when she said she ran Peachtree last weekend at 11:15. I told her that was a lot faster than I normally go so I would be behind her at some point. I just knew that I would be lucky to maintain a 12:00 mile for this run.

We walked to the start line and since there were only about 80 runners, the guy just said "On your mark, get set, GO!" The pack started out very fast, I looked and we were running 9:38 so I slowed way down and let everyone pass me. I had to let out a cheer when I realized I was the last runner.

Before we ever hit the first mile, I had pulled ahead of at least 2 runners so I know I didn't finish last.

I knew the first few miles would be kinda hard since it was uphill. What was amazing to me was that it was not nearly as hard as I recall. The temperature difference and running on hills routinely sure made it easier. Actually, the whole course didn't seem nearly as long as it did in June.

At the first water stop, Michelle was right in front me. I stayed on her until about mile 5.75, when she pulled ahead on the final hill. After the race, she told me that she didn't realize it was me until we were past the 4 mile mark. I told her if I had gotten close enough to her, I would have said hello but she was always about 20 feet in front of me.

Asexpected, when I came around a turn and towards a straight patch, Chuck passed me heading towards the finish line. Since he was the lead runner, he had a flashing police escort. His time was 34:xx Michelle and I both hooted and hollered as he passed us.

I was watching my Garmin at various points and was thrilled at my pace. I was running below an 11:00 mile nearly everytime I checked. I do think that mile markings on the road were off and I heard several others complain about it as well.

Of course, there has to be a joker on every course so the police trail car decided to do it. I was just about to mile 5 when he pulled up alongside me and asked if I wanted a ride. Ha, Ha. Put the donut down and join me. I politely smiled and declined.

As we got to the last hill, Chuck was coming out on his cool down run while Lucas (who went on to win the 5K in 16:16) was doing his warm up. There was another guy, can't remember his name but he was 3rd overall in the 10K. They passed me, yelling encouragement. As I was starting up the final hill, they came up behind me. They ran with me, yelling goofy stuff and encouraging me while giving Michelle, now about 50 feet in front of me, a hard time. When Chuck told me to sprint, still almost a mile from the finish, I told him I was not going to sprint until I was closer to the finish.

As I crested the hill, Grant, who was my 5K coach, was standing there. He came out on the course and paced me as well. So here I was, almost dead last (at least 2 behind me though!) and I had all these buff guys running with me and being my own personal support team.

"Get those knees up! Drive it home! You can do it! Come on Denise!" and similar stuff. As soon as I passed the 6 mile mark on the road, I did start to sprint. The crowd, small though it was, cheered and I believe I made it to the official time in just under 1:07. My Garmin said 1:07:02 Michelle finished just ahead of me, she was still in the finish chute when I came in.

I am still waiting for the official times to be posted but I know I bettered my previous PR significantly. My entire half group did so well.

Chuck- 34:xx
Brittany - 57:xx
Jim - 1:00:45 (he really wanted to break 1 hour)

According to the Garmin, I ran 6.31 miles at a 10:38 pace
1 mile - 10:00
2 mile - 10:42
3 mile - 10:43
4 mile - 11:00
5 mile - 10:49
6 mile - 11:09
.31 miles - 8:26

I felt really comfortable for most of the race, I would not have guessed I was running that much faster than I normally do. I really tried to catch Michelle but just didn't quite make it.

It really was a great run. It was a nice, cool day and everyone was fantastic. The official times should be posted later in the week and I will post when I get them.