Red Ore Run 10k Recap

Hello friends! How was your weekend? We had a steamy, humid, warm weekend here in the Northwoods. This kind of weather is not too common for us, so everyone is complaining. Myself included. Add that to AC trouble in the office, and yea...

So here'a something a little positive for you!

This Saturday I ran the Red Ore Run 10k for the third year in a row. This race is special to me, because the 5k was my very first race ever, 4 years ago. I've come a long way, baby!

2nd Place in the 30-39 Females Division

Woot! Look at that! This is the only race I run that doesn't give out finisher medals. I joked this year about wanting some hardware. Well, there you go! 

The race started at 8am, and since I had an 11 mile run on the books for this weekend, I had to run 2.7 miles there, run the race, and then run 2.1 miles home. I left my house around 7:15, and took it nice and slow. It was only in the high 60's at this point, but the humidity was sweltering. I got to the start line with about 10 minutes to go, which was just perfect. I said some hello's to fellow runners, and made my way to the starting line.

When the gun went off, I started off too fast, of course. But this time, I was pretty good and reeling it back to my goal pace within that first mile. I saw a woman in my running club who tends to run about my same pace, so I caught up with her and asked her what she was aiming for. She said 8:40 min/mi, and I wanted to be closer to 8:30. So I pulled away from her and continued on. 

There's one really big hill in the second mile, but for the most part the course is just rolling and flat. By mile 3 I was starting to fatigue, but I took a gel and kept things going. We run through a residential neighborhood, and this year there were two houses with sprinklers set out for us to run through. Huzzah! That was just great, and gave me a little boost. I picked off another 2 runners at this point, and by the time I hit mile 4, I couldn't really see anyone in front of me. I knew the leaders were well ahead of my pace, so I just aimed at being steady.

At mile 5, I started to pick up the pace. I hit the last water station, grabbed a cup and doused myself with water. It was hot! Thankfully, once you start getting closer to the finish line in the park, there's a lot more shade. Once I rounded the last corner and could see the finish line, I took off like a rocket. 

My splits were 8:36, 8:26, 8:36, 8:37, 8:29, 8:11, 7:39 (.20). My finishing time was 52:52, which is a PR for me, and good enough for 2nd place in my division! I couldn't be happier with the results on such a hot, humid day. 

I ended up sticking around for the awards ceremony, since I won an award and all. Then we took a group photo with my running group, or the members who were still there. I am so pleased with how things are going with the running club, and how supportive everyone is. We took home a lot of hardware! 

There's me in the middle-left, one of the only ones not wearing a club shirt. Whoops!

After a short run home, a shower, and a long nap, we went out to dinner to celebrate. Well, it was really a belated Mother's Day/Father's Day gift to my in-laws, but I celebrated with beignets. Yay beignets!

How was your weekend? Have you ever had beignets?