I'm glad I decided to run in the inaugural Hale Freezes Over 10K put on by the Hale Center Theater in Orem. There were 200+ participants in the 5K, 10K, and 1 mile walk. There were some issues, but for a first time event I thought it was run pretty well. RunnerCard handled the timing, the post-race food (including hot pizza) was pretty good, and they had the awards and prize drawings inside the theater out of the cold, which was nice. One hiccup was that the course markings in some spots were hard to see. There were a bunch of the lead runners that missed a major turn near the beginning. There were a lot of turns in the course as it winded through neighborhoods. Wayne missed a turn later in the race, and I had a little glitch myself on a corner where someone had apparently taken the cones. Another fairly major hiccup was that they had no age division awards, only 1st-3rd male and female in each race. No masters division, either, which I just realized I would have won (I'm 48 and the two ahead of me were 24 and 33). After the race, one of the organizers told us it was their first time and they will fix things next time.
There were only 17 men in the 10K. To my surprise, I finished 3rd overall. I've never finished higher than 10th overall before. Sure, it was a small field, but it was fun to stand on the podium and get my picture taken. I got a nice medal, a pair of Asics running socks, and a season ticket to the Hale Center Theater. I also won another pair of Asics running socks in the drawing. Every participant got a couple of vouchers to upcoming shows (and a pen, and a deck of cards, and some discount coupons to various businesses). The 5K and 10K runners started together and ran the first couple of miles together. I knew where the 10K runners were supposed to split from the 5K runners, but as we approached the turn nobody was taking the 10K turn. I confirmed with a guy at the aid station where the 10K was. I was hoping many of the numerous runners in front of me were running the 5K, but I was shocked when the only person to turn to the 10K course ahead of me was the woman in the tie-dye shirt about 20 yards in front of me. The course works its way down to Geneva road during the first half then climbs back up the second half. I didn't want to die on the uphill, so I tried to balance taking advantage of the downhill with not overdoing it. I averaged about 7:06/mi before the uphill and averaged 7:25/mi overall. I slowed on the uphill as expected, but I was pleased that I never felt like the wheels came off. I actually feel like I could have pushed quite a bit harder near the end, but there was a huge gap both ahead of me and behind, and I wasn't anywhere near a PR. I didn't feel the risk of injury was worth any potential reward for pushing really hard. I recovered very quickly from the race and feel better than I have in a long time. Mile splits: 7:14, 6:53, 7:14, 7:40, 8:06, 7:30, 6:54/mi for 0.2 - Overall: 45:59.6 (7:24/mi)
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