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Kingdom Run - Run


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Irasburg, Vermont
United States
62F / 17C
Sunny
Total Time = 52m 46s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = F 7-29
Age Group Rank = 4/
Pre-race routine:

Not much; ate a Kind bar.
Event warmup:

Parked 200 yards away from the race start, which sounds nice but it was a SUPER STEEP uphill walk. Yikes. Also jogged for about three-quarters of a mile, but again the roads were steep no matter which way you went. I was beginning to have a bad feeling about my goal time...
Run
  • 52m 46s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 08m 32s  min/mile
Comments:

This was my first 10k race, and my goal time was 51:30, or about 8:18 per mile.

My husband and I were looking for an excuse to go to Vermont, our favorite state, so we picked this race. It was located in Irasburg, in Vermont's "Northeast Kingdom". I knew it was out the in boonies, but wow, I didn't realize just how much! It was a *very* quiet, beautiful area in the mountains. The race itself was old-school, with tag timing. There was a 5k, 10k ,and half marathon that were all out-and-back, starting from the same point at the Irasburg town square. Each race had its own tag color (purple for 10k), but unfortunately it was hard to see who was running which race during the actual event. But it wasn't really a big deal; I was going for a time goal anyway, not an AG placement goal. The weather was perfect at 62 degrees and a dewpoint of 52.

We took off and the first half mile or was noticeably downhill; I made a mental note of this for the return leg. I looked at my watch and realized I was running too fast. My first mile was 8:06, well below the 8:18-ish I was targeting. Oops. I dialed it back for the next mile. Mile 2, as it turned out, had a rather lengthy hill. I was *gasping* for air as I went up it, and my second mile time was 9:22. Well, there goes my goal time of 51:30. I was pretty annoyed at myself for blowing it so quickly. I figured, oh well, I'll just try and enjoy the beautiful scenery since I'll never make my goal time. I saw mountains of course, horses, farms, and even a super-cool treehouse. At some point I started to see people coming back from the turnaround, so I started counting. I was in 14th place I think, and the 6th woman. Of the 5 in front of me, I thought 4 might be in my age group. (Unfortunately, my age group was the unusual range of 7 to 29, and two of those girls were teenagers for sure.) Mile 3 was 9:13.

I got a big mental boost at the turnaround, and I decided I had to try to pick up the pace. I finished mile 4 in 8:20; right about what I wanted for my average. Somewhere in the fourth mile a guy just *blew* by me like I was standing still. I was really confused about how someone so fast could have been behind me for so long. Then I realized he was a half-marathoner (they were also doing an out-and-back from the same starting point). The HMers had a half-hour head start, and I calculated that that guy was on pace for something like 1:20-1:25. Wow! Super fast for a run in the mountains!

Mile 5 was going down that hill from mile 2, and I really let loose and finished it in 7:50! That's my 5k pace! That mile actually felt great. I was hoping I could pass this woman, possibly in my age group, that had been ~100 yards ahead of me for most of the race, but no way, she just kept widening the gap. Oh well, I still wanted to keep up my pace so no one would pass me. Mile 6 felt good at 8:15. For the last 0.2, which included some substantial uphill, I was going at a pace of 8:20. Finally crossed the finish line at 52:46. I am really shocked that my pace going uphill at the very end, after having run the whole race, was barely slower than my pace going downhill at the start of the race! I have no idea how that happened.

I got 4th in my age group, and I was not close to third (more than 4 minutes behind!). (It turns out that the woman just ahead of me was not in my age group after all). I think there were only 5 in my AG though, haha. I doubt there were more than 50-75 people total running the 10k. The 5k and HM seemed more popular.


What would you do differently?:

I should have been faster in the third mile...I think I was just mentally loafing at that point in the race because I was bummed about the second mile. I should have shaken it off faster.
Post race
Warm down:

I walked around a bit and stretched. I made sure to get some (or more than just "some") of the fantastic food offerings (see below).

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The hills I guess, haha.

Event comments:

The scenery was beyond gorgeous; plenty of mountains, farms, and animals to look at. The volunteers were friendly and helpful. And the post-race food was awesome: watermelon, bananas, cookies, sandwiches, cheese, and best of all, ice cream with fresh blueberries! Very enjoyable race.





Last updated: 2013-07-10 12:00 AM
Running
00:52:46 | 06.2 miles | 08m 32s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back, with noticeable hills.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2013-08-12 11:22 AM

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