This was the fourth annual London's Run half marathon, 10k, and 2 mile fun run. Last year I ran the half marathon. This year I decided to do the 10k. London Solomon is a little girl who lost the battle with cancer. This event is in her honor, and every year they pick a young person with cancer to help them out.
My goal was to get under 50 minutes. Unofficially I did. But it was close, and I haven't seen the official results. I'll update when I do. I started way back. They didn't use a chip to time the race, so that was a mistake on my part not to move up. I also forgot to take my sweat pants off. We got there way too late. I only live two miles away. The half marathon started at 8am, and the 10k ten minutes after that. I thought if I left my house at 7am, that we would be fine. We ended up leaving about 7:30. Then it took a half an hour to get there because traffic was so bad. We barely got there in time to see the half marathoners off. Then I turned on my Garmin, and it took forever to locate satellites. I didn't do my regular stretch routine, so I didn't have my head in the game enough to remember to drop the drawers.
They started the race, and it took about 15 seconds for me to cross the start line. That's when I started my Garmin, and that's why I'm worried my official time will be listed as over 50 minutes. Garmin also told me the course was 6.29 miles long. Was there satellite error? Did I weave a lot? I doubt it. 0.09 miles equates to 475 feet, and if I'm running an 8 minute mile pace, that equates to 43 seconds. So in my heart I know I did a sub 50, but I will be bummed if it ends up being listed over 50.
Like I said, I started towards the back, and had to weave my way through. I saw Camille up ahead. I didn't pass her until we were about 2 kilometers in to it. She did quite well, so read her blog, too. The entire first half I felt like I should be running faster, but I kept telling myself, "If you do, you'll die." I'm glad I stuck to the plan. While I didn't have a whole lot left at the end, I was certainly alive and was able to pass the girl that was about 5 and a half steps ahead of me the entire race.
I think I got passed only twice in the last mile. Usually about 100 people pass me, so that was good. There was one guy that I failed to pass right at the end, and he may have been in my age category. If I find out that he medaled I'm going to be so upset. Speaking of medaling, they didn't have times posted by the time I left, but they did the awards ceremony. They were just calling out names and no times. So I went up to the announcer and asked if he could read the times. He said he only had names. So I listened without really expecting I would get a medal, and sure enough, they didn't call my name. Then he read the female winners of my age group. When he got to the first place finisher he was like, "Is this right?" Then he called my name. I yelled, "I am NOT a girl."
So that leaves the lingering question: Did I actually medal?? I still doubt it, but I'll check the results when they post them tonight. Apparently I beat all the girls in my age group, so I got that going for me. My buddy from my Del Sol Ragnar team came in third overall. However, they only gave out plaques to the top two finishers in the 10k. Then they called his name for second place overall. He was pretty confused because he was 100% positive there were two guys in front of him. I told him maybe one of them was a bandit. Then I saw this young guy from the Queen Creek cross country team with a bewildered look on his face. Greg had the integrity to go tell them they made a mistake. So with all the mistake making going on, who knows what place I'm going to take. I think I remember being listed as a girl in the last race I did, too.
Splits: 7:44, 7:36, 7:51, 8:00, 8:04, 8:23, 2:12 (7:35)
*********************UPDATE************************
The official results are out. It was just as I feared. They listed me at 50:03. 3 lousy seconds!! Oh well. I know how I did. So, 46th overall, 6th in my age division. The next guy up in my division beat me by 1 minute and 46 seconds. I would've had to run a 47:24 to medal. Maybe next year. I also got beat by 11 females. Not bad. They didn't post the 2 mile results like they did last year. So I'm not sure how my kids did. According to my wife AJ finished around 16 minutes and Mary around 19. | 