Chattahoochee Road Race 10K

When I started running 6 weeks ago, I knew that I’d need to set goals for myself if I was going to stay on track. That’s why I decided to try and run one race every month and try to improve on either time or distance in each one.

I started with the Suwanee Sweetheart Sprint, a local 5K. As my first race ever, I knew right away that I would be one of the slowest people on the course. I also knew that I wasn’t competing against the other people there – I’d only been running for 3 weeks after all! I’m glad I went in to the 5K with that expectation, because I finished 251^st out of a total 294 with an official time of 43:50.  Seeing as my goal was 45:00, I was happy with the result and even happier with the hot chocolate and churro I was handed at the finish line.

Fast forward 3 weeks later, and I’ve made some definite progress in my training schedule. I'd run 54 miles in the month of February, and I was scheduled for 6.5 miles for my long run on Saturday. I’d learned enough about running at this point to know that a 10K is 6.2 miles. Close enough, right? Plus, those of us who are slow and need to stay on the edges of the course tend to go a little farther distance-wise (or so my Runkeeper app told me after the 5K). So, I decide… Why not just run a 10K this weekend? Sure, it’ll be my first run over 6 miles, but no biggie, right?

I did some research and found the only 10K for that day that would be within 25 miles of my house: the Chattahoochee Road Race. I look at past years’ results and realize, this is a pretty competitive race, as most people are trying to get better qualifying times for the Peachtree Road Race. I also realized, with my projected time of 1:30:00, I would probably be the last person to cross the finish line. But, the lure of a race shirt and the food trucks at the end convinced me to set my alarm for 5:45 in the morning (bah!) and make the drive to Sandy Springs.

Lines at the race ranked by length:

3. Starting line – The 5K and 10K started at the same time from the same place, and there were about 800 of us waiting for the go ahead to get moving.

2. Registration/Packet Pickup line – I opted for race day registration, which ended up being the shortest of the lines but the slowest. Apparently assigning bib numbers is a much more complicated process when they have the built in chip and everything needs to be recorded.

1. Porta Potty line – This was by far the longest/slowest line because every person who has run a race or had a mom has heard the line “You should have gone before we left!”

Now on to the actual race! This was a chip timed race, so you have to make sure to run over the electronic pad that recognizes your chip and records your official start time. Most people start the race by running with little concern to conserving energy… then again, that may just be because most people have more energy than I do at 8 in the morning… that might have been the problem. You see, I started doing this slow jog thing. Then I walked. Then I jogged some more. Rinse and repeat.

It was around the first mile marker that I realized most everybody was ahead of me. That was okay. I had a plan to finish the distance, not to attempt to finish it quickly and burn out. I had my intervals set on my phone telling me when to jog/run and when to walk.

It wasn’t until I reached the turnaround for the 5Kers that I realized there was only myself and one other 10Ker at the back of the pack. He was an older man who was wearing a “50 Marathons in 50 States” shirt. Okay… so maybe he was more than triple my age, but he clearly had more experience at this whole running thing than I did, so maybe our paces would be similar?

I stayed ahead until the halfway point, which is about where he passed me.  I still hadn’t realized that I was really and truly the last person until the cop car that was directing traffic started driving slowly behind me. He was kind enough to tell me he’d be blocking traffic until the next stoplight, after which he’d have to start letting cars through. He did offer to play me some music over his loudspeaker until we got there, though. I’ll admit, it made me move a little faster! I mean, even if you’re the last runner in a 10K, being (slowly) chased by a cop car playing you inspirational music is kind of epic!

After that little bit of excitement, I had to stay to the shoulder and/or sidewalks for the rest of the distance, as there were cars coming through. I am happy to say that I did not get run over!

The volunteers at the water stations stayed until every last runner had passed by them. They cheered me on like I was at the front of the pack, even if I was keeping them from their well-deserved chocolate chip cookies. Even runners who weren’t participating in the race cheered me on and reminded me that I was getting close to the finish line. The course was advertised to have a quick, downhill finish, and except for one last climb, it didn’t disappoint.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 1:24:09 (a 13:32 per mile pace). I was literally the last one (380^th out of 380). But you know what? That was still 6 minutes faster than I was expecting to be!

In writing this blog, I hope to encourage other people who are as slow as I am. Running is a journey, and you’re not going to become a speed demon overnight. And as much as we call these things races, we’re not racing against the other people --- we’re racing against ourselves!

My personal goal for the 10K distance is to one day break the 1:00:00 mark. That would be a 9:39 per mile pace. I hope that if/when I achieve that, I’ll still have a smile on my face like the one I had when I crossed that finish line this weekend.

Until next time…. KnitOneRunToo