Today was a perfect day for racing. The temperature hovered just below 50 F, the sky was partly overcast and the wind was almost nonexistent. John and I left South Knoxville around 7:40 AM and arrived at an already crowded race site some 25 minutes later. While excited to run my first 10k race, I carried my pre-race jitters to the start line.
Race check-in was a breeze so John and I stood around until about 8:50 AM, when we heard the race director call for the line up. Some one bravely sang the national anthem acapella (now that is tough) and before I knew it, I heard the starting gun! 500 pairs of feet started shuffling from the parking lot to the street.
Took some minutes for people to begin spreading out. I was toward the back and the rolling terrain provided a great view of the running wave. Soon we turned left and ran under an old country railroad bridge. The cool thing was the train crossing the bridge above us.
Putting on my race number “9788”
Very nice coolmax souvenir t-shirts
Racers lining up. I am turned backward watching John
And the racers are off!
I settled comfortably into the run. Although I had my iPod in my pocket “just in case,” I ran the entire race without it. Each mile was clearly marked and there was a water stop just beyond mile 2, which made it just before mile 4 on the way back (I took water coming back). The rural scenery was great but the rough pavement kept my eyes fixed to the road for most of the race. I did enjoy the sounds of the country….moos and birds chirping. Mostly I enjoyed the peaceful silence.
Mile 3.1 came up pretty fast and we U-turned around an orange cone. I watched some of the people who had been running near me continue on the half marathon course, including two 60 something ladies who had been discussing running. One said that she was glad she had not started running until she was 58, because she didn’t have to watch the race times of her youth become a distant memory. She said she was still improving. Amen to that!
I was running next to a younger woman who was in run-walk mode. She walked up the hills and ran the rest. We must have passed each other 10-15 times. I told her I envied her fast running, she told me she envied the fact that I could run the entire race. The race finished on a downhill and she beat me by some seconds.
I am not sure what my time was, I think somewhere around 1:12. I was so excited to finish and feel good that I forgot to pay attention. Times should be posted on the Knoxville Track Club website in the next day or two. (Results are in, my actual time was 1.11.44, an 11.33-min pace….better than the 12-min mile I expected)
Diane Madison #1003
John caught sight of Diane Madison, an old backpacking companion, at the beginning of the race. We didn’t have a chance to speak to her until after the race. Like a bunch of old folks, we stood around discussing our health issues. Diane apparently had the same problem that I did last year, she tripped on a piece of rough pavement while running. She broke her ankle and was in a cast for 8 weeks. I jumped in with my broken arm and John, his broken collar bone. Her training partner (the guy behind her) had only a stubbed toe to discuss. Oh well, we hope to have more positive things to discuss if we see her at another race.
Running into the finish!
I finished, I am smiling! The end to a great first 10K (the guy behind me is finishing the 1/2 Marathon 🙂
