Off-Season Race Recap: Alton River Road 10-Miler
November 26 – Alton, Illinois, River Road 10-Miler
Despite the pricy race-day fee, I decided to join friends and return to Alton, Illinois, for the annual 10-miler on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I suspected the ex-girlfriends would be out in full force. Not good or bad, just is what it is. (Only three this year, for the record.)
The running conditions were very good, with a slight wind. The out-and-back course along the river offered the usual headwind on the back half, but that was somewhat offset by encouragement from the runners heading in the opposite direction. I felt surprisingly strong for not having trained seriously, and even beat my time from last year. Over the last few miles I was holding steady and running in small clusters of runners. In the last ¼ mile, I actually dropped the two guys who had been sharing the wind-breaking with me and then launched past two guys who were fading just before the finish. It’s a finish-line tactic that I rarely have the energy or stamina to properly execute, so it gave me a satisfying rush.
Alas, I still was one spot shy of age-group hardware, finishing 47th overall out of nearly 900 runners. Oh well, the plaques were the same as last year, anyway, and it’s always good to see the exes!
Despite the pricy race-day fee, I decided to join friends and return to Alton, Illinois, for the annual 10-miler on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I suspected the ex-girlfriends would be out in full force. Not good or bad, just is what it is. (Only three this year, for the record.)
The running conditions were very good, with a slight wind. The out-and-back course along the river offered the usual headwind on the back half, but that was somewhat offset by encouragement from the runners heading in the opposite direction. I felt surprisingly strong for not having trained seriously, and even beat my time from last year. Over the last few miles I was holding steady and running in small clusters of runners. In the last ¼ mile, I actually dropped the two guys who had been sharing the wind-breaking with me and then launched past two guys who were fading just before the finish. It’s a finish-line tactic that I rarely have the energy or stamina to properly execute, so it gave me a satisfying rush.
Alas, I still was one spot shy of age-group hardware, finishing 47th overall out of nearly 900 runners. Oh well, the plaques were the same as last year, anyway, and it’s always good to see the exes!
posted by JPD at Monday, December 12, 2005
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