I ran the 10k.
Race started at 7:30 for both the 10k and the 20k and followed the same route. There was a spot where people running the 10k did a turn around and those running the 20k kept going to their turn around. So the start and finish was at the same spot for both groups.
So we begin the morning and all is well. It is getting hot and humid. On our drive to Leesburg we see some fog rolling through the mountains. The Temp is around 74 degrees and it felt like it as there was about 98 percent humidity. There was barely any wind to speak of so right then I knew that I was going to have to keep myself well hydrated. As we got under way the temperature rose but the humidity went down which was good but you could still feel it.
The route was a little different then last year, not that I ran it last year, but it seemed to make sense to me what they did.
We started on Harrison Street in front of Tuscarora Restaurant. We went south on Harrison Street until we got to Catoctin Circle and then we took a right. Last year they turn right on to Fairfax Street and then to King Street where the runners entered the W & OD Trail. This year we stayed on Catoctin Circle for about a mile allowing the pack to thin out a bit before entering the W & OD Trail. Once on the Trail it was an out and back course. The 10k participates had a turnaround just before Milepost 37 while the 20k runners continued on to their turnaround spot just beyond Milepost 40.
There really was nothing bad to say about the whole experience. Even though there were a lot of runner participating and the W & OD Trail is narrow, it never seemed like I was in cramped quarters. There were a couple of water spots available and even then it did not feel like a big back up. There were 708 (354 Male and 354 Female) finishers for the 10k and 604 (330 Male and 274 Female) finishers for the 20k. Total of 1,312 runners for the event.
Overall, for the 10k, I finished in 386th place. I finished 246th in the male division and 33rd in my age group.
I am not sure if there were any runners that could not finish due to the heat, but it was a hot one. One really nice aspect of the race was running on the W & OD Trail as most of it was covered by trees so that keep the sun from beating down on us.
Would I do this race again? Absolutely. Even though there was not much crowd support while you were on the trail you were never really alone as there were plenty of runners with you.
Again, I enjoyed this race a lot and I thought it was well managed.
At the end they had a big pile of wash cloths that were buried in ice and it was very refreshing. There was plenty of water and snacks available after the race but I am not sure the placement was very good. It was right next to the finish line which made it very congested as you were bumping into other runners as well as crowd cheerers. They had a real nice band playing in blocked off parking lot that had nothing else around it. It would have made more sense to have all of the other refreshments down there.
Well I am about 2 months exactly away from my first half marathon and I am very excited about it. I am very ready for it. I am trying to decide if I want to do another 5k or 10k race before then. Not sure. I guess I will have to consult my coach on that matter.
I will keep you updated.
Thanks for reading.
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