1era Gran Carrera Autotal ’06

This was a “10 Km.” race I ran this morning. The actual distance was 9.1 Km. I knew it seemed short when running since it took forever to get from one Km. sign to the next until we got to 8. Then 9 was just around the corner. Something seemed fishy.

It was fairly well organized. I grabbed a bag of water before starting and then got water at all the water stations that still had water when I came through. There were water stations near kilometers 2, 4 and 5. Then nothing for a long time. I was just thinking how much I would really like some water between 7 and 8. A fellow runner ahead of me turned and offered a half drunk bottle of water to me and the fellow I was running with. The other guy did not take it, so I snatched it up with great joy. I drank a bit of it and then sat it down at the 8 Km. marker. I figured the guy that gave it to me was still close enough behind me to see me put it there. If he wanted more, it was available. Then as we turned the corner just after 8 I could see evidence of where there had been a water station. Apparently the walkers wiped them out of water.Autotal Race Bib

I came into the finish strong. I had tried to push at different times during the race, but have never wanted to be the guy that starts out too strong and can’t finish, so I have learned to pace myself well. I don’t think I could have done much better than what I did today. My time was 1:00:54 which is a pace of 10:46 per mile (based on 9.1 Km.). I should be able to run a bit faster than that, but with my big running week this week, I understood going into this that I could not give it my best effort. Today was not a goal race, rather an opportunity to run with a few friends. Come to find out, I was running with over 600 friends today.

The race was to start at 8:00. We started a few minutes late. I am not sure the actual time but something like 8:07. Mintutes were precious to me since I had to be cleaned up and at church before 10:00. I knew it would take me right at an hour to make the run. Then wait in line for the goodies and hopefully a t-shirt. After finishing the race, I realized I just did not have time to wait for my fruit and t-shirt. Besides, they had already said they would have t-shirts for the first 300 finishers. With over 600 in the race, there was little chance that I was getting one. There were probably 500 or more who finished in front of me. When I hit the turn around spot, there were not that many people behind me and a few passed me on the return trip. This was the innaugural event, therefore I am not sure they had a good idea of how many people would be there.

So, I stretched a bit, walked slowly back to the car, jumped in to come home and then get cleaned up to run out to church.

I did not even take the time to see how I placed in my age group. When I registered, there were only 19 in my group. I am certain there were many more than that when the race started. I will try to get to the Nissan dealership who sponsored the race this week and see what my finishing place was.

2 thoughts on “1era Gran Carrera Autotal ’06”

  1. Yes, it was busy. Most all races are run on Sunday mornings here. They try to have them start so that they are done around 9:00. The length of the race determines the start time. At 9:00 this morning it was 84 degrees. That is why they do this. But, a 9:00 finish makes getting ready for church a bit of a challenge. At least I live just 15 minutes from church. Used to it was just over 30 minutes away.

    I have yet to be in a race that has been accurate. The closest 2 have been 1/4 of a Km. off. One long and one short. One 5K was only 3.3 Km. I assume the marathon they recently ran was accurate. There were runners from all over the country and, of course, Kenya.

    Today was my first race to run with Km. markers. That was nice, but I knew they were not accurate. My splits were between 4:18 and 6:44 per Km. Something tells me they were not quite right.

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