Salt Lake 10-miler

Today was race day! I got up, expecting nasty weather, but to my surprise, the meteorologists were wrong. It was clear and chilly (45F at the airport; 37F (3C) at the top of Emigration Canyon), and perfect race weather. I drove to the start and warmed up, doing 8 minutes easy plus some pick-ups.

The course was beautiful. It started at Little Dell Recreation Center, in East Canyon, and went over Little Mountain and then down Emigration Canyon to This is the Place Historic Monument. Here's a view of the canyon from the air (it's the bottom canyon in this picture).












Here's a view from the ground. It was lots snowier today, though, with snow along the road at least halfway down the canyon, like in the aerial picture. Beautiful!


The race started pretty much on time (7:30), and aside from a little wind, it was perfect. There were a good number of people, but it wasn't crowded at all. The first 2 miles were uphill - and though it was a steep hill, it was eminently racewalkable (just made that word up). I finished the first mile in 10:29, and the second in 11:15 or so. The rest of the course was downhill, and I started to make up time quickly (my goal was 10:15 miles overall). At 5 miles my watch said 50:36, and I was really pleased. Hey, that downhill was helpful! I was worried that it would be too steep to racewalk, but it wasn't at all - it was just nice and FAST. Mile 6 was 1:00:10, and mile 7 was 1:10:20, so things were going well. At this point I thought "Hey, maybe I can finish under 1:40!". By this time I was starting to get a little tired, but I did mile 8 by 1:20:10, and mile 9 by 1:30:04. I knew it would be close, so I really turned on the gas, and that last mile was really tough. My legs were burning and I was breathing very hard. I crossed the finish line in 1:38:34!!! However, I wonder about the length of that last mile - no way I did an 8:30, even downhill, even pushing hard, at least I don't think I could have. But whatever. It was a fabulous race and I was ecstatic with the finishing time.


Here I am at the finish.

I have no idea what it means for my ability to do a flat race like the CRIM 10-miler in August. I'm sure my time will be quite a bit slower on a flat course, but hey, it was fun to go fast today!

I originally entered the race as a runner, because there wasn't a walking division on the website, so I wasn't expecting to get an award. However, James, the race director, recognized my Wasatch Walkers gear at the finish and had them change my number to the walking division instead. What a great guy! The funny thing was that I was the only walker there today, so I got a medal by default. I don't mind at all, as I raced hard and it's nice to have a medal to celebrate my successful race.



Official Race Results: 140 of 177