Associated Charities of Lenawee County Inaugural Charity Chase 10K

It was a lovely day to race last Saturday. The sun was shining and the weather was just a tad warm. Before the race started, I met up with some running friends from Ann Arbor. I met Bob and Jocelyn when I ran with the Ann Arbor Track Club. I ran a short warm up with them and walked and talked before the race started.

There was the a nice sized crowd for the inaugural race. Most of the people there ran the 5K. There were a few of us running the 10K. When the horn went off, all racers and walkers started at the same time. The 10K group ran a block with the 5K group and then split. When the split was made, I was behind two ladies and a guy heading up a incline. After we were over the incline, I ended up passing one of the ladies and the guy.

I was very familiar with the first half of the route. These were the streets that I ran on when my treadmill was out of commission back in the winter. The streets were mostly flat. I knew I had to take advantage of that. I went as fast as my legs could take me. I could feel myself slowing down at some points, that is when I told myself to pick up the pace. I needed to keep up the pace because I knew that people were behind me. I didn't know how close, but I knew they were there.

The second half of the race took us through a local cemetery in town. I have run races through that cemetery. It is not flat. It has plenty of rolling hills. When I made the turn into the cemetery, I took a quick look back. The lady and man I passed were closing in on me. I tried picking up my pace on the flat straightaways. When running up a hill, I tried turning my legs over as fast as I could. I just kept telling myself to keep going. It seemed like we ran in the cemetery forever and I just wanted to make it back out onto the road without one of them passing me. On the driveway leading us out of the cemetery, I was caught by the woman behind me. She just passed me and started to cruise. She kept getting farther away from me. Running into a downhill, I told myself to go get her. I started to pick up my speed.

Following the downhill, the course turned us right. We had one long country road to run before making another right hand turn into another long straightaway to the finish line. Before making the final right turn, I was pulling closer and closer to the woman ahead of me. Just before turning, I had her within 10 feet of me. When we made the turn, I was still on her. It was then, she started pulling away from me. I tried to pick it up to stay with her, but the rubber band broke. She was gone. I ran as hard as I could and crossed the finish line in 54:44. With that time, I placed second in my age group of 30-34. I was second behind the overall woman's winner (my running friend, Jocelyn). I think I was fifth overall woman. I'll have to wait to see the final results when they are posted online.

This race was fun and I thought I did well. I was able to speed up early in the race. It wasn't until hitting the rolling hills in the cemetery when my legs didn't want to respond. I wish I was able to catch the woman at the end of the race. Even though the lady passed me, I was able to keep the guy I passed in the beginning of the race behind me. That is always good.