Running With Jack

Last weekend at my half-marathon I picked up a flyer telling about a 10K run in a nearby town that started at 10:30 at night! Since my marathon begins at 6 p.m. and I will very likely crossing the finish line after dark (yeah I’m slow), I thought what better way to get used to running late at night than do a 10K night run!

Gondelsheim is a small town in a hilly area about 15 miles from where I live, so getting there was quite easy. I arrived about an hour and half before the race because I had been warned from members of my running club that parking was a problem. I found a parking place about 5 minutes from the start and collected my start number. At the fest hall there was, of all things, a Country-Western band playing – I sat and listened to them for awhile – they need practice…

There was a 5km walking event that started at 9:00 p.m., I helped cheer them on as they completed their two round around town. The race loop was 2.5 km, so the 10K race was for loops. With each loop there were three hills to climb, each with an elevation gain and loss of about 30-55 feet. For those of you who live in a hilly area this may not seem like much, but most people in this area live in the flatlands. In any case for a 10K race, you definitely feel the hills after four rounds. The loops ran around the streets of Gondelsheim, which were closed for the race. Most of the streets were pretty well lighted, but there were a few dark spots that made the potholes and other road obstacles hard to see.

I warmed up with almost a round before the start of the race, then took my place in the middle of the pack at the start. I chatted with another guy from my running club that decided to run the race at the last minute and soon we were off.

The kilometers were marked, but a couple were hard to see. I missed the first marker, but crossed the second in 9:53, a super pace for me! This didn’t last long as the steepest climb came up right after it, I chugged over it without too much problem, then flew down the other side and winded my way back to the Start and around again.

I felt like I didn’t lose too much time on the second round and as I made my way over the Start again (at 5K) I noticed my time was about 20:43, still a decent pace. However as I made my away around the third time the hills started taking their toll, I was sucking wind. I kept pushing on, trying not to slow much more.

As I made my way around the final loop I started passing people, including some still on their third loop. I passed on guy going up the first hills, he passed me on the second and I passed him again on the third and toughest hill. As I flew down the hill and the last 500 meters to the finish line, I could feel him breathing down my neck and I didn’t let up the pace, eventually sprinting the last 200 meters (flat) to the finish line!

My final time was 48:28, a couple minutes shy of a personal best, but I am very satisfied as this was a hilly course. I finished 89th out of 206 overall, 19th out of 26 in my age class.

I hung around for a few minutes after the race and cheered the other runners in, but it was getting chilly, so I headed home for a shower. It was a fun race and I feel great this morning. Bring on Mannheim!