Trenton 10K (2016)

My goals for this race were to have fun and be faster than I was a few weeks earlier in Dorney. I also really hoped I would cross the finish line before the first half marathoner. I'm pleased to say I was successful on all three accounts.

I took less pictures than in past years, mostly because this is my fifth year doing this race. Not surprisingly, that helps with my overall time. Newly unemployed, and about to face open heart surgery, Don joined me for the race expo. It is a pretty quiet expo, at least when I attend, but still fun. In years past I have been greeted by cheerleaders. This time all was quiet. I bought a couple of hats from a vendor I saw the week before at the Perfect 10 expo. They were cheap, held up well in the wash, and did not have the Nike swoosh on it. Picked up one each in blue, pink, and bright yellow.

The race was pretty much as it was in 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012 (well the first couple of years I did the half since the 10k option was added later). We start with Revolutionary War-era musicians. Oh, and a 15 minute late start, which is practically on-time for this race. I parked in a real lot this year instead of by the Little Free Library that always seems to have a space for me. I thought Michelle and Kim were also parking there,  but since it was not on the official map of places to park, and since they actually pay attention to this stuff, they parked further away in the official lot.

Kim was running the half this year -- her first. Michelle and I were only doing the 10k. We planned accordingly and put extra layers in bag check. The day started off nippy. I wasn't ready to commit to my usual skirt and t-shirt. When I dropped off my sweatshirt, I added a long-sleeved tee because I could tell it was warming up nicely. Had I blogged about this last week, I would have remembered all of the great details about the weather, but life (a.k.a. Don's surgery) got in the way.

The course was the same. I ran through my first few intervals looking for my pace runners. They still don't do a great job with lining us up by pace. Many fast runners come late and are in the back. Many slow runners start way up front and are trampled. I think of myself as a strong middle of the packer for this group. We go to the right, then over the ramp (probably the biggest hill for the 10k) and back down on the other side of the highway. It is always too bunchy in the beginning. Around the half mile mark I switched to my 1 minute: 30 second intervals, which I mostly maintained. I was able to skip a few intervals, and I was not bored or tired of running, so a great day in that sense.

I also remembered to run on the wooden side of the bridges instead of down the center. I find running over the open grates a bit disconcerting. That was it for the pictures I took during the race. 

This was the first race where I stopped to pick up money along the way. The euro caught my eye first, then the 16 cents. I figured it made for a good

story. 

I finished at 1:08 -- 2 minutes faster than the hilly Dorney 10k. When I finished I saw Gabrielle, who was kindly waiting for me (which is more typical than anything else). She was decked out for Halloween, including wearing spiderweb-like non-running tights. 

Michelle was faster than anticipated. I heard her name announced, but did not catch her crossing the finish line. My name was announced twice since the first time he turned me into a city (PillsburG instead of PillsburY). Um..okay.

Michelle and I and hung out about an hour and a half waiting for Kim. Every so often Kim would text Michelle a picture of what she was seeing so we knew she was okay and still going. We posed for some pictures, checked emails, posted pictures on FB, and cheered on the finishers.

 Then we saw Kim! Way to go!!!

Go Kim!

Kim's is the big one in the middle.

These women were celebrating their 100th half marathon

She finished long before "Angry Bird" -- a runner Don and I have encountered over the years. He is an older gentleman who keeps competing in half marathons, nearly always finishing last. Still inspirational to see him go.

It was a beautiful day to hang outside. It was around 60 at the finish, the lack of wind made it feel warmer. I then went home to return to reality of getting ready for what the week ahead would bring. Not all things are fit for blog posts.