Run Like Hell - My First 10k Race

On Sunday, October 25th, Corky and I participated in our first 10k race.  It was only my 2nd race ever (the first being The Color Run on September 12th), and it was great!

Being Halloween themed it was, of course, a costume race, so we dressed up.  We wore skin suits - mine was black and Corky's was green.  

In the car on the way to the train, Corky said, "The only problem with our costumes is that they aren't anything.  Like they aren't characters or anything."

"Sure they are," I replied.  "I'm a shadow and you're a booger."

We arrived at the starting line about 5 minutes before our scheduled start time of 8:10 a.m.  We found two of my friends who were also running the 10k.  After a few selfies, we were off and running.  

I lost Corky pretty quickly when I got stuck behind 2 women dressed as elderly ladies (complete with housecoats, shower caps and spectacles).  I caught up with him somewhere around the one-mile mark and we ran together for another mile or mile and a fourth before my pace caused me to pull ahead of him.  I knew I'd see him again when I reached the turn-around point and reversed directions, and again at the finish line.

As I continued on, I was steadily passing people.  I wasn't trying for a specific pace.  In fact, I didn't even use my running app.  I knew I'd be running a 10k so I didn't feel the need to measure my distance.  And I didn't much care about the time, to be honest.  As I passed the 2, 3 and 4 mile markers, I found myself surrounded by fewer people dressed head-to-toe in costume and more people who looked like serious runners.

We wound our way through northwest Portland, zigzagging through city blocks into a more industrial part of the city.  Various musicians made up what they called the "Musical Mile."  Some were marching band variety, others were pure Portland - like the guy playing a guitar and a didjeridoo at the same time.  A radio booth blasted "I Feel Good" at top volume.  I was still singing along three blocks later.

Just after the turn around (the course was not symmetrical - the first part was about 4 miles, the second part was about 2.6 miles), I encountered a water/electrolyte/gel station.  I had passed several but had opted not to partake.  By this time, I had pulled my hood off and was thirsty!  So I gratefully accepted a Dixie cup being held out to me.  Inside was a clear liquid that I assumed was water but when I drank it I was shocked to find that it was the saltiest, vaguely grape-ish electrolyte drink I had ever ingested!  I took it like a shot (because I had passed the trash can already) and crumpled the cup in my fist.  This turned out to be a mistake though because I got a stomachache almost right away and it didn't go away for the rest of the day.

I had an awesome pace going.  The course was really flat and I kept waiting to hit a wall and I never did.  There were some hilarious costumes.  I saw a lot of people dressed like super heroes.  Many Cat In The Hats, Minions, two separate sets of Bacon & Eggs.  One girl dressed like a slice of pizza.  In total, between the 5k, the 10k and the half marathon, there were about 4,000 entries.  

In the end, I finished 206th out of 1,056 in the 10k.  18th in my age bracket (out of about 120 I believe).  Corky finished 507th.  Not bad considering he's never run 6+ miles in his life!  It was fun and I am excited to do more races!