River Jam 10 @ WWC July Edition

 While the 2nd Thursday night of this month was hot, the weather was not the typical suffocating July hot. Perhaps, the rain the days proceeding had something to do with it. 

Steven called us to the line to start the race. Everyone was pretty bunched up. I let my gaze swing back and forth checking the color of the bibs. I was just trying to get a sense of who was running the 5k and who was running the 10k. 

Everyone sprints from the starting line because everyone wants to be the first one enter the trail. There is a mad dash. I found myself behind Troy. I want to try and stay with him. We hit a couple of the quick rollers. I am running flat out, and Troy is pulling away from me. By the time that we get down to the river, he has moved a couple of runners ahead of me. That's the last time that I saw him. 

Standing at the starting line, the sweat had dried. Now, maybe 600 meters in to the race, my body had kicked sweating in to overdrive. I was wiping it from my brow. 

I am chasing this one guy. Whatever he is running, it is just fast enough that I cannot catch him but then, I am not running slow enough that he is getting away from me. 

We stay like this until just before Lake Loop. Maybe it was the heat or maybe it was the distance but either way, I got by him. 

I catch a glimpse of another runner in front of me out by the lake but he is too far ahead for me to mount a real threat. 

Crossing the parking lot, I dropped down in the trail section behind the pavilion. Here I catch a few of the 5k runners where the course overlaps. I came up on this one group of about 15 runners forming a conga line. Working through them was tough. Each seemed to take a different side of the trail. 

I was just happy to pop out along the channel again. 

I ended up 6th overall in just over 46 minutes. 

Racing on Thursday nights is always fun. Looking forward to both August and September 

Treasure every day.

Cool Down Runner