Ever since I decided that I wanted to run the Disney
Princess Half Marathon, I knew I needed to have a 10K time to submit if I
didn’t want to be put in the last corral.
I’ve done plenty of smaller races, 5k, 7K, and 8K, but never a 10K. The
only 10k I knew about was the Wicked 10K in VA Beach, so I planned to run that
in October and submit that time to Disney.
I figured that would give me all summer to work my way up to that
distance.
As luck would have it, I found out about a local 10K on June
8th. Since Disney Princess
registration opened a few days later I thought it was perfect timing. I did my first 10K training run earlier that
week ( in the rain) and clocked myself at 1:09. That time was good enough for
me so I signed myself up for the 10K trail run.
Before I signed up, I wanted to see this trail I would be running on, so
I took a bike ride around it. It
definitely was not like the trails I normally run. It was very narrow, it was
very wooded, and was very muddy. But I thought I could do it. If it was a hot
day, it would definitely be a much cooler run because of all the shade. Later I found out that the trail I rode bike
on was only the 5K. I found a map for
the 10K route and my mom and I went back on Friday to check it out. Fortunately
the race director was at the park while we were there and he showed me where
the race would start. I was shocked when
I saw the bank we had to climb up just to get to the start. We literally had to
give each other a hand getting up that dirt incline. The arrows were already spray painted on the
route, so we just followed that ( we walked the route). In addition to muddy and narrow paths, there
were, rocks and tree limbs to avoid, and slippery wooden planks and boardwalks
to contend with. Not to mention lots of inclines and declines. After seeing this race route I was starting
to get hesitant. It didn’t look like something I was ready to endure at this
point. To me, this looked more like an
extreme trail run. To make matters worse
it was suppose to rain on race day. I
can only imagine even more mud and me wiping out as I run down one of the
inclines.
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| A few pics of the course |
Well, race day came and I decided I would go through with.
When we got to the park there were many more participants than I was expecting
for a local race. Half were doing the 5K and half the 10K and we all started at
the same place and time. Before we even
got to the start line, the girl right behind me wipeout and fell on her bottom on
the wooden planks. That made me even
more cautious on this run.
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| This is not me, but I wanted to show one of the inclines along the course. (Photo courtesy of Robert Stoudt) |
The race started and after the first kilometer and a half,
runners started to spread out a little more. I was surprised that the trail was
not as muddy as is it was the day before.
I was glad because I debated over what shoes to wear. I didn’t want to
wear my good running shoes because I didn’t want them to get muddy, but I
didn’t want to wear any of my other ones
because I wanted the comfort that my
good ones provided since I would be running on different terrain. I’m glad I chose my good shoes. Since I did
a time of 1:09 on a flat trail, I was hoping to do this trail run in
about 1:15. I was taking into consideration the terrain and how cautious I
would need to be on this run. I really
ran at my own pace and at some parts of the trail I felt like I was the only
one running. I didn’t stop at either of
the hydration stops. It wasn’t that hot out and I figured I did this distance
before without stopping, so I could do it again. It really ended up being not that bad of a
run. I ended up finishing with a time of 1:06. Since this was my first official
10K, I was pleased. I probably won’t send this time to Disney right away. I
have a feeling that I might be able to beat this time once I can race on level
terrain ( maybe at the Wicked 10K?)
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| Me crossing the finish line. |
*EDIT: Since this race I was able to run a road race and I got my 10K time down to under an hour. That is the time I submitted to Disney for Corral placement.