This past Saturday, we got up at the crack of dawn to get ready to head over to The Colony so that I could run the American Heroes: A Salute to Veterans 10k race. This was somewhat of a last minute decision. You see, my brother and I were going to run the Big D 30k relay this coming weekend, but he had to back out because he hadn’t been able to get his training in.
I’m really not sure why. He only has a full time job and three kids to take care of. I mean seriously, where are this guys priorities? 😉
Anyway, since there is no way I am ready to do a full 30k on my own, I decided to try and find another local race. I saw that there was a 10k race happening on November 10th, but I had really wanted to do a half-marathon or at least a 15k. The 10k had race day registration, so I decided to just wait and see how the weather was going to be, then just show up that day if it was going to be okay.
I’ll be honest, when my alarm went off at 5:15 that morning, I actually thought about turning it off and just going back to sleep, but I didn’t. When will I learn that staying up late, then getting up early to run just isn’t a smart idea?
The morning started out really pretty, sunny, and VERY windy. There was actually a wind advisory that day.
You see that woman to the far right in the front? She was the overall winner in the women’s division. I think she also was the one who won the 15k race I ran last year. Oh, and by the way, she finished in 32 minutes and some odd seconds. That is CRAZY fast!! I think that the guy in red came in first. The overall male winner finished in 31 minutes! Kudos to them!
The 5k started at the same time as the 10k, so we were running alongside a few kiddos for a short distance before we split off and headed down the shoreline trail. I wish that I’d taken some pics along the shoreline because it was really pretty, but I didn’t want to slow myself down.
It was very windy the whole time, and the sunny, blue skies disappeared shortly after we started, so conditions weren’t optimal for a run. I even heard some lady tell another lady that today was not the day to try for a PR.
UPDATE: My official time was 55:06 with an avg. pace of 8:52 – not super speedy, but my avg. pace is better than my 15k race pace last year, so I’m pretty happy with it.
At the finish line, there were Veterans who were handing out bottled water and medals. Imagine that. Someone who has served his country is handing ME a medal for running six measly little miles.
The race swag.
The proceeds from this race benefitted the American Legion Holley-Riddle Post 21, which serves Veterans and current members of the armed forces in The Colony,TX.
I think that this is a very worthy cause, and I was so glad to be a part of it. Just want to send out a big thank you to all of the Veterans who have served this great country. We are forever in your debt.