With the long downhill from just beyond the start, everyone started out way too fast. Garmin says my first km only took 3:55. Even at that, lots of people were passing me going down the hill. Once the route leveled out down in the river valley though, I settled into a solid run and from there on I was only passed by 3 or 4 others the whole race. I was just running what felt right but I kept reeling in one runner after another.

About half way through, I caught up to one lady who stayed ahead. Maybe she was running faster when she heard me heaving for air behind her. I'm sure I was making more noise breathing than anyone else. Whatever the reason, she was the only one I saw that I didn't catch. We both kept slowly moving up through the field. I almost passed her a few times but she stayed ahead and I followed.

The 6km race starts 15 minutes after the 10k and the routes come together a little before we started back up the hill. There was a lot of slower traffic then, and going up the hill my rabbit and I ran past literally hundreds and hundreds of walkers. Just beyond the top of the hill, she found another gear and I had to let her go but there were only seconds left to run. Again, I forgot to stop my Garmin right away but it was only an extra minute before I got it.

My time was 5 minutes faster than last year, and that was a big PR. :)

My legs were cramping up a little after the race, calves and lower quads, so I walked and jogged around a bit. I stopped to talk with several people I knew but tried to get moving again quickly. I even spotted my rabbit and we had a laugh as I thanked her for the pacing. Then I went inside to warm up, had lots of food and pop, and stayed through the awards to collect my hardware. :)


With an overall participation of 2500, the venue can get a bit crowded. I think a lot of people left earlier though because it didn't seem too bad this time.