Year of Races

Chattahoochee Challenge Shirt

The Chattahoochee Challenge 10k was advertised as a flat, fast course.  I would agree with that.  I set a new PR this morning, running the race in 50:09.  I had a lot of fun as usual and hope to get a chance to run this event again next year.

I arrived at the Chattahoochee Nature Center around 6:30am.  I wanted to get there early to secure a parking spot near the Nature Center so I wouldn’t have to park a mile away.  Waking up at 5:30 this morning to make my parking dreams happen was no treat, but it worked.  I went inside, registered, and got my race bib and timing strip.  Now, I had about an hour and a half to kill until the start of the race and it was 44° and damp.  I came prepared however.  I went back to my car and read some more of the latest Dan Brown novel.

Around 7:45 I ventured out and made my way down to the starting line on Willeo Rd.  It was a well organized start with a mat to trigger my timing strip.  We all took off a bit after 8 and I noticed that they had a few pace groups running.  I’ve never run a race with pace groups, but I wanted to give it a shot.  One of the groups was running a 49:00 race.  This was ideal as I really wanted to break 50 minutes.  I spent about the first 2 miles catching up to the guy carrying the orange flag.

For most of the remainder of the race I stayed right with the pace group.  Never really laboring and actually enjoying the company.  We chit-chatted back and forth and eventually some folks dropped back.  Around mile 5 it was really just me, another woman, and the pacer.  I didn’t pay much attention to my splits, although the mile markers were clear and the digital times were presented at each marker.  I was with the pacer, so as long as I kept up with him, I was in under 50.

At mile 6, I realized that whatever device the guy was using was wrong.  We weren’t on pace for 49:00.  I decided to finish hard the last .2 miles to salvage whatever I could from what I thought was going to be a successful run.  Like I said, I finished at 50:09 and I think the pacer came in at 50:18 or so.  I’m kind of disappointed because I know I could have broken 50, but I REALLY enjoyed running with that little group.  I’m considering investing in my own GPS device so that I’ll be able to keep my own pace as well.  We’ll see.

All in all, a great, well organized event.  Probably the best one so far in 2010.

Other items of note:

• Official times were online super fast.  Huge plus in my book.
• The shirt is a short-sleeve cotton deal.  I actually prefer the technical shirts, but if they saved money on the shirts to give more to the Nature Center, then I’m definitely cool with that.
• One of the women running in our pace group beat me at the Polar Bear 5k.  Not this time, friend.
• I finished 27th out of 100 in my age group.  Not too bad.  Still wish I could have seen 49 on my time instead of 50.
• Lots of goodies handed out after the race.  I love the swag you get at these things.
• The course was really flat.  Here’s the course on mapmyrun.com.
• Didn’t see anyone puking at the race, but did see the usual number of snot rockets which are just as disgusting.
• Although it was a cold, dreary morning again, I enjoyed running by the river.  Very peaceful other than the 1000 runners, volunteers, photographers, cops, etc. 
• True Speed Photo was at the event.  I’ll update the post with any links to pictures of me that I find.  UPDATE: pic of me being a goofball
• I always enjoy reading what others thought of the race.  Here are some mixed reviews.

Next week, I’ll be in the heart of Marietta for the Mardi Gras 5k.  Anyone else running this one?

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