This year the Running With the Bulls added a 10k. David and I decided that we wanted to do the 10k a long time ago. David even trained pretty hard for the race. His goal was to beat one of his students that had beat him at the last 10k. My goal was just to see if I could race a week after a marathon I ran pretty hard. My legs have felt really great all week and I ran one time so I would keep them from fatiguing.
Morning of the race legs felt fresh. The weather was ideal, cool temps and no humidity. David and I both were ready to race. When we lined up, there weren't any ladies that looked like a threat, so I knew I pretty much had it unless someone new showed up from the back of the pack. They had us running through a chute, which was really random. The race started 15 minutes late which bothered me.
The gun went and we were off. Racing felt nice and I just tried to keep up with the men around me. There were a few of them that went out way too fast and I caught up to them within 2 miles. The course was just lovely. The 5k runs through downtown Del Rio and the 10k runs out past a vineyard and some mansions on a farm road. They had not closed the road, so there was some traffic that was going around runners. People in Del Rio don't recognize that runners should get the right of way and they still go the speed limit. I saw a 5k runner that was almost taken out by a red mini van.
The 5k runners also turned down the 10k route and they ended up running around an 8k. The course was marked, but people did not pay attention to the signs and spectators were telling them to go the wrong way. It's interesting how people that are racing in events don't seem to pay close attention to where they are going and they almost need "special" attention. Where a crowd goes, a crowd follows. I just felt bad for some of my friends that were in the top three for the 5k but they ended up going the wrong way. There was no way to tell how fast they really ran the race, it was such a disaster.
I also felt bad for the people planning this race. The chip timing system was very poor and they said they lost results. Mine and David's results were both off and they are off every time they use the system. The event is to raise money for the local food bank. They usually end up earning $50,000 for the local food pantry. We all remembered why we were there... It is still difficult to not be recognized for your running efforts, especially when you are trying to PR or something.
There are also a lot of glitches in this race that could be easily fixed if they asked someone who knows what they are doing how it's done. The problem with these races is that someone will be in charge of a race for three years and then they will pass it on to someone else. The races are through the base out here and the people putting them on are just using it for their resume. It's fun to be a part of these races, but it's extremely frustrating when you are running and logistics don't go smoothly. People might just end up donating money and not running...
David ended up with 2nd place and lost by around 20 seconds. He lost to a local male runner and he passed his students by minutes. I was the first female by I think 5 minutes. It was just a strange race. Took forever for them to sort through the results and go through the raffle. We did win a $50 gas card during the raffle, which was a nice added bonus. Winners just get a plaque.
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