 |
| Chris, Bob, Me and Felix |
Palmer Park
January 1, 2011
10K (6.2 miles)
1:05:35
Once again a flurry of emails the week before from the guys and finally the group was set last night - Bob, Felix, Dano, Chris and I all signed up to run the Rescue Run. F and Mike were traveling and I don't know where Jeff was! This is an annual race to support the El Paso Search and Rescue (website: http://www.epcsar.org/) and what a wonderful organization - they never charge for any of the SAR missions they do.
From the website:
Weather: Temps in low single digits above zero, with partly sunny skies. The course was quite icy on the paved section of the course.
Course: Hilly and challenging. The 5K course is entirely on paved roads. It's mostly uphill on the way out, and mostly downhill on the way back.
The 10K course is about 4+ miles on paved roads and about 2 miles on dirt trails. The first mile is mostly uphill. Then it is rolling/level for a few miles. The last 1 1/2 miles are mostly downhill. The 10K course offers some panoramic vistas of the Colorado Springs area and the Front Range mountains.The morning was freakin' freezin' cold; however, I dressed in layers and was nice and warm throughout therace. I picked up Chris at his house and then drove over to Bob's for all of us to catch a ride with Felix to Palmer Park. While still in the car, Chris had us all swear to the "Pack!" That meant none of us would take off and leave anyone during this race. Absolutely! Now, I was assured to have someone help me through this race and it turned out to be Chris.
The start is on a dirt road that winds around the field at Palmer Park. After the first tenth, you climb for the next nine-tenths on the road. This is a pretty tough way to start a race, especially with icy roads and cold temps. Chris had us start in the first half of runners and that was probably smart since 5K and 10K runners started together and the race openly asked for walkers to participate.
After the first tenth, you turn to the right to continue up the hill for the 10K course and yup, continue to climb. It levels off of a bit after awhile but then, of course, there are more uphill sections. However, this is Palmer Park and Colorado ... would you expect anything different? I would equate this race to Garden of the Gods ten miler ... the winter version!
My lack of real training showed up in spades with this run. However, I only power hiked twice during this hilly course and was proud of myself for my super slow-mo gear that got me up and over the hills. Thank goodness we all agreed that this was just a fun run and none of us were going to race!
Chris and Dano took the lead for the entire race and would run up a bit and then wait for the rest of us to catch up. That meant myself and Bob who ran with Felix for the entire race. After we turned around at the top, Chris was waiting by a photographer so I pulled in as well. Dano had doubled back to catch Bob and Felix and when they all came into view, all five of us stopped in front of the photographer for a group photo!
From there, it was mostly downhill -- about that same nine-tenths that we had on the way up at the beginning. We went past the starting point and headed around the field with Chris, Dano and myself and then Bob and Felix. Right before the run up to the shoot, the front three slowed for the last two to catch up and then we all crossed one behind the other. Okay, so I did nudge Dano with my elbow as I passed him and then Chris received the same treatment so I could say I beat the guys in one race!
They laughed at me and told me I could hang up my shoes for the rest of the year since that would never happen again! Afterwards, we went to Panera Bread for coffee and bagels!
What a great day and a wonderful way to start the New Year out right. I hope all of you have a great year running and stay injury free!
210 262 Teri Hedgpeth 45 Colo Springs CO 1:05:36
211 435 Christopher Sanders 53 Colo Springs CO 1:05:36
212 430 Daniel Lee 46 Colo Springs CO 1:05:37 214 247 Felix Colonnieves 49 Colo Springs CO 1:05:42 215 426 Bob Eaton 57 Colo Springs CO 1:05:43
 |
| Chris, Bob, Dano and Felix |
No comments:
Post a Comment