Saucon Rail Trail 10K - Run10k


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Center Valley, Pennsylvania
United States
Saucon Rail Trail 10K
70F / 21C
Precipitation
Total Time = 44m 41s
Overall Rank = 43/302
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 9/38
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 6:30 and heard rain. Got dressed and drove out to Center Valley. Dranks a bottle of Restore and a Smores bar Powerbar on the drive up. Parked at the park and walked over to the regestration area and got my bib, then headed back to the car and changed shoes and pulled off my sweats, then headed for a warm up.
Event warmup:

Jogged back to the park and around to the finish loop then around again to the start and to the first road crossing and ran into my REV3 teammate and the race director Chris. Then did some stretching and then walked up to the start line and the rain started to pick up.
Run
  • 44m 41s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

The rain justed cranked up as Chris tried to get things going so he cut his comments short and as soon as the timers were ready we were off. Started middle and a few rows back. The folks did a good job self seeding and I settled into a easy pace being careful with the wet conditions and close quarters. Just before a mile I got passed by "Noah" who must have been 14-15 and heard him talking to a lady who knew him and something about a 60 something 10 miler. So I decided to work and stay with him. I passed him and he stuck with me as I pushed through mile 2 and we started passing folks. Worked to mile 3 and the turnaround and I finally started pulling away from Noah but a group of 3 passed me soon after. I focused and kept pushing home which was slightly uphill most of the way back. Caught up to 3 people in front of me and was right with a 4th when we crossed the last road and the volunteer said we had a 1/2 mile to go. The guy ahead of me surged and I seemed to wilt. I had 3 people pass me in the last stretch past the start line. My right calf and thigh twinged and felt very weak and almost buckled so I couldn't accelerate or answer those guys who were sprinting which was OK.

What wasn't Ok was the guy who passed me after the finish line well inside the chute then would give me the spot back. WTF? He even told the people collecting the tickets he finished first...The @#@@#@r wasn't even close, Dude do you really need to cheat to get 43rd place? I handed my ticket to the person first but they scored him first. Not happy with that! Race as hard as you want but after the finish line the race is over. Man that ticked me off. Fortunately it didn't impact any AG results but that is my time you just stole AH!!
What would you do differently?:

Other than not having my leg wig out and not boxing out inside the finisher's chute, I was pretty happy. Nice steady effort pushed it on the second half, just couldn't get my legs into gear for a kick. Still was a post 14 year layoff 10K PR and I won some socks (Top 50 M&W won socks)
Post race
Warm down:

Had a bottle of water and a ROOT BEER FLOAT! Walked back to the car and changed into some dry clothes and then came back for the raffle and awards. Then drove home and took a long hot shower.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Second time thing week this pain/weakness in my right calf/thigh/knee did limit me at the end, but overall run was good and makes that 46:27 at Rev3 Wisconsin even more impressive!

Event comments:

Great job by Chris! First year event, sold out ahead of the race. Very unique awards (Painted rail spikes) and the custom socks! Plus you can't beat Root Beer Floats post race! Only downside was the heavy rain and the bullhorn dying so Chris had to lose his voice yelling for the raffle and awards. Good Job. Hopefully will have better weather next time!




Last updated: 2012-09-02 12:00 AM
Running
00:44:41 | 06.21 miles | 07m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 9/38
Overall: 43/302
Performance: Good
Course: Out and back on the Saucon Trail. Few small rolling hills. Mostly packed gravel with 3 road crossings. At end went past the start and on a trail back into the park and around to the shelter.
Keeping cool Good Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4