RRCA Club Challenge 10 Miler: Race Recap

Just a quick little recap of the...

Race:  Club Challenge 10 Miler
Date:  Feb 23, 2014
Location: Columbia, MD
Finish Time: 1:11:36

The Club Challenge 10 Miler is an annual 10 Miler race put on by the Howard County Strides.  It felt like a small race but with over 700 finishers its more of a mid-size one.  When I think of "small" I think of like 300 participants.  This race was a haul to get to and started at 8:00am so that meant an early morning, but I'm glad I met up with my running club for a good hill workout!

This event is really about camaraderie among runners and seeing which clubs bring out the most participants.  The course was challenging and hilly, but I still knew several people who posted PRs that day.  Decidedly taking it easy, I was able to enjoy myself, get a good workout on the hills, and progressively push harder through the race.

DC Road Runners group shot!

Sitting at work on any-given-weekday, I'm surrounded by inactive people who think running is either crazy or just plain stupid.  Sometimes you start feeling weird, like you are out of place.  It was such a great feeling seeing so many runners that are active participants in area clubs, and so many fast runners!  In fact, there were over 40 sub-60 minute runners, and almost 400 who finished in 80 minutes or less!

Club numbers.

The weather was perfect out.  High 30s at the start, and even though it felt cold then one we started hitting the hills I had sweat dripping down me.  I went out at a conservative pace, maybe 7:30s, to warm up and get a feel for things as I haven't done much road racing lately.  The hilly terrain helped warm me up, and while the effort level felt high I was probably only hitting 7 minute miles.  A few more bursts of energy later and I was passing people with a couple miles to go, pushing 6:45 miles.  I happily finished in 1:11:36, though not before looking at the clock and remembering what it felt like to finish a 10 miler in much closer to an hour on a similar effort level.  Ultra specific training starts to make you slower, but you can't train for everything and I am at least retaining some of my speed at the shorter distances!

Looking a bit distorted pre-race.