Pumpkin Run 10 Mile

This race was actually a couple of weeks ago... but It's one of my favorite road races and I wanted to record my thoughts...

It had been a hot week... in the 90s almost every day... and Saturday was no different.

I went for the Saturday group ride... and sweated to the point that my socks were squishy in my bike shoes... at 0900 in the morning.

I was therefore surprised when I walked outside on Sunday to a slight chill in the air ~60 F temps.

Warm-up and port-o line and I'm ready to go. I did not get a chance to line up as close to the front as I would like... I was basically hanging out talking with friends until the gun went off... Being near the front is extra important in this race because it takes place in a cemetery... and the roads are single lane... between the graves...

In the first mile I did run alongside the road for the most part trying to find some elbow room... hopefully I did not disturb anyone "resting in peace"... No iPod or Garmin just a Timex... saw 8:0X on the clock at the first marker.... Settled in to whatever pace I was on and kept going...

Mile 2 has an out and back so I got a chance to see some of the costumes... the Banana guy, the gladiator, and some idiot running in tightie whities and a motorcycle helmet took my silent top 3...

http://randylefko.eventpictures.com/app/event/zoomPictures?eventInstanceId=19059&picture=4825231

At the mile 3 mark the 5k and 10 mile courses split... and my companion, big-dude-in-princess-Leah-wig

http://randylefko.eventpictures.com/app/event/zoomPictures?eventInstanceId=19059&picture=4825263

and I parted ways.

For the next few miles I tried to just relax and stay with the folks around me... I found it interesting that one lady would pull away from me on the straight-aways and I'd close on the turns... thanks again Coach Mike for the "run the tangents" lesson.

At around the 7 mile mark she caught me... Her name is Elfrieda... she has fiery red hair... quick turnover, and is the fastest 65-69 year old female in these parts... and she has beaten me plenty... I tried to stay with her... and found that I could... With 2 miles to go I decided to pass her... I did and decided to just keep going at that pace.

Finished up with a couple of 7:30s.. Final time of 1:17:20... good enough for a 6 minute PR for a 10 miler.