I think I ran my best 10K ever at this year’s Silicon Valley Turkey Trot.
Overall: 1374 out of 7912 (17.3%)
Women: 290 out of 4058 (7.7%)
Age Group: 19/389
Finish: 52:03 Pace: 8:23
Tag Time: 52:03
Gun Time: 53:29
4-mile split: 32:02 Pace: 8:01
So I slowed down after Mile 4 which was right around the time I encountered a little boy — maybe 9 years old — to whom I gave kudos. I was seriously impressed that he was running this distance! He wasn’t the only kid around his age that I saw on the course (and I gave the others some kudos as well), but he was notable because, well, I added “I’m going to have to try to keep up with you” to my kudos to him and, upon hearing this, he nodded and picked up his pace!!
After that, I thought to myself that I really would need to try to keep up with him. But, not wanting to make him feel bad, I did fall back a little to let him run ahead for a few minutes. Eventually, I overtook him, feeling slightly guilty. But, at the water station, I stopped for a sip, and I saw him go right by me (perhaps he made it a point to pass me where I could see him!!).
I was tickled by the thought that this old lady (me) might be motivating this kid to go ever faster on this course!! Maybe he was racing against me, maybe not. But, it was a fun distraction to think about, whatever the case!
In the end, I passed him again — still marveling that he was even able to run this distance at his age! I was definitely ready to finish. Once I saw the clock, I tried to sprint for a strong finish, but I’m afraid I didn’t eke out much more juice!
Still, I’m pretty happy with the results. I think I ran a total of 5 times in preparation for this run and none of the runs exceeded 4 miles.
Maybe I’ll be better prepped for the Jingle Bell Run in December.