Original post: September 13, 2013: The 10k
Yes, I'm still recovering from the Dumbo Double Dare weekend! Mostly just trying to catch up on the rest of my life, like laundry, work, etc.
As we headed for the bag check and last bathroom stops, we were shocked to see so many 5k participants still not lined up. It was kind of a mess having the two races back to back. After the ceremonious stop at a stinky port-o-potty, we were ready to get into our corrals. A bit of confusion ensued, but all in all, it was fairly uneventful. We had a very short wait in corral B then the gun went off.
We started moving, then started running--no stopping between corral A & B. I later found out this was a mistake, and they were supposed to stop corral B, but for the time being, I just thought Disney was changing it up a bit! In all honesty, it actually worked out really nicely. I was able to get a good jog going before crossing the start line, and was able to find my race pace pretty easily within the first mile.
As expected, a lot of runners took the 10k easy and I did have a bit of weaving to do to get to my 9:30 race pace. It was hot, but my lofty goal was 55 minutes, my realistic goal was 1 hour. I was pretty set on not making 55 minutes due to the heat and humidity.
The
course was pretty good: mostly in the parks, but started out going
through the convention center area. It was a quick few miles before you
entered near DCA. There were a tons of twists and turns, but I didn't
mind because it really kept you in the parks for most of the race. In
typical Disney fashion, there were plenty of characters and distractions
throughout the course. My least favorite, though, was going behind the
scenes by the animals and trash area. It was just so hot that the
smell really got to me. I almost lost it, but my stomach held on long
enough to breathe some clean air. After Disneyland, you finished
running through Downtown Disney with a quick turn to the finish line.
Couple
of notes on the course. First, and I will admit to this being
partially my fault, the water stations were not in good spots. I didn't
"study" my map very well, and when we hit the first station at mile 1, I
wasn't needing water so I just ran through it. I assumed (my fault!)
that there would be another one fairly soon, since I did remember
reading that there were 3 stations. Nope. Not the case. We didn't hit
our next bit of water until mile 4. The last one was at mile 5.5.
Especially with the heat, this was not a good plan. I was pretty
nauseous during the run and a little water would have been nice.
Second, my brother-in-law was watching in the stands and noticed that
for the elite runners, they were running into the slow 5k runners. I
thought this would be more of an issue, but turns out it really wasn't
for me at all. Finally, I did hear of some corral issues behind us. A
bit of mushing people together just to get everyone off. All in all,
not too bad for an inaugural race. You have to go into these expecting
some hiccups. |
| Hanging out at the finish line |
Here are my stats: (instant PR...it was my first 10k!)
Net Time: 58:29
Division: 67 out of 1013
Gender: 291 out of 5133
Overall: 785 out of 7828
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