2017 rat race

The wife and I participated in the 2017 River City Rat Race yesterday. I believe this is our fourth or fifth year in a row. It's a beautiful fall race through the east side of town along the river, ending at the old fort. I heard this morning there were a little over 1000 people registerd, but that seems like a lot. Who knows.

Jane ran the 5k and I regretably opted for the 10k. Ugh, it was sooooo unseasonably warm and sunny for October and it really drained me. I should have done the 5k.

Jane actually finished fourth in her age group (out of 26 women)! She ran faster than I did at 9:51-minute miles, finishing in 30:32. I believe that even included having to stop at one point.

I was disappointed in my time of 1:06 at 10:40-minute miles. I finished ninth out of sixteen men in my age group. I was hoping to beat my 10k time from the Fort4Fitness, since I've actually been training a little, but I wasn't prepared for the heat of this mid-afternoon run (2 pm start). I rarely walk during a run, but I had to take several walk breaks yesterday. I also took water at just about every station, which is something else I rarely do. It was killer and I was a little discouraged.

Also, according to my GPS, I went 6.48 miles instead of the 6.2 a 10k is supposed to be. Several others commented about the discrepency as well. In fact, at the posted 6-mile mark, my watch said it was 6.3. At any rate, I still would not have topped my F4F time, but I guess you'll have days like this.

I really like this race. It's a beautiful course, it's in the fall, and it's a fundraiser for the YMCA. Typically an afternoon race in mid-to-late October would be perfect weather-wise. I also like that 'normally' you can decide at the end of the 5k if you want to stop, or keep going for the 10k. Unfortunately they weren't able to do that this year because they had to alter the course due to riverfront construction. It got a little confusing at a couple points where they had 5k and 10k people going different directions.

The biggest complaint I have about this race is the same as I have for most: walkers. I do not mind walkers, as long as they don't block the course. This particular course involves parts of the rivergreenway sidewalks. It's difficult enough to pass people, let alone when you've got a group of people walking side by side. The other problem with this race is all the little girl runners. I forget what they're called, but it's some club designed to get young girls to run. I think that's great, but there are so many of them, and sometimes between the younger girls and their parents, they aren't real considerate of people who are trying to get past them. It's not like I'm trying to win or anything, but when I'm wind-ed... it gets a little frustrating.

All in all it was a fun time though. Some friends of ours ran this year too, so we went to the Hoppy Gnome afterward for a snack and drinks. It was a good time even if I wasn't happy with my time.