It was quite warm for the end of November, the weather had really been up and down the last few weeks, but this morning was pretty warm still.

The crowd at this race is always great, its a very large and well organized event. This year the 10K started 15 minutes prior to the 5K at a different starting line.

I was determined to PR this 10K, I really wanted to be under 60 min for the first time. I kept at a pretty good pace the first 3 miles and got to the turn around at 28 minutes, but I just couldn't quite hold that the second half. I was really still holding out for 58min - but in the last 1.5 miles of the 10K, we merged up with the 5K'ers. It was like hitting a WALL of walkers, strollers, little kids in wagons - you name it. These were the slower 5K'ers who had already taken 35+ min to get to mile 2. It became a matter of zigging, zagging and dodging while just trying to hold on to my pace. I am happy for them all that they are out there doing it and just having fun, but it was frustrating how oblivious and inconsiderate they were to those of us who were racing our hardest.

I stopped looking at my watch at this point so I didn't get angry, and just ran with whatever I had left in me. I turned the corner to the finish and sprinted the last bit harder than I ever have...only to come up on a group of 3 women who had STOPPED and were blocking the finish line, standing and hugging and chatting BEFORE the finish line. I basically ran smack into them...who stops BEFORE the finish line? I was really disoriented, and it took me a second to push around them, cross the timing mat and then stop my watch. Time when I stopped my watch was 59:04. Still a PR over my previous 10K time of 1:02, so I was still happy.

To ad to the frustration though, apparently my timing chip didn't work, so there is no official time on the results.

Loved this event last year when I did the 5K. The 10K this year wasn't as great, mainly due to the issue of the course merging in the last 1.5 miles with the tail end of the 5K'ers. It made it very difficult and heartbreaking to have given your ALL for 5 miles, and then boom, you are forced to slow down and not meet your goals. I would still probably do the event again, but due to its size and holiday atmosphere, trying to go for a PR wasn't a good idea.