Monument Ave 10K…
My wife, Michele and I decided a few months back we wanted to experince the Monument Ave 10k. This is one of the capstone running events around our area and we wanted to see what all the excitement was all about.
Going into this race I had very low expectations. Coming off a successful running of the Shamrock marathon two weeks prior and having a 10 mile race in two weeks, follow by a 24 hour Ultra, I did not want to push myself very hard. A conservative run was what I had in mind, in my mind I would have been happy with a 50 or 51 minute run. And that plan was solid until…the gun went off and I got sucked into the hype…and ran my best 10k in 10 years. I crossed the finish line at 48m49s…and Michele speed walked her way in at 1hr 30m, and what a good experience we had.
Going into this race I had very low expectations. Coming off a successful running of the Shamrock marathon two weeks prior and having a 10 mile race in two weeks, follow by a 24 hour Ultra, I did not want to push myself very hard. A conservative run was what I had in mind, in my mind I would have been happy with a 50 or 51 minute run. And that plan was solid until…the gun went off and I got sucked into the hype…and ran my best 10k in 10 years. I crossed the finish line at 48m49s…and Michele speed walked her way in at 1hr 30m, and what a good experience we had.
This was our first Monument Ave 10k and it won’t be the last. A reported 41,000 people ran/walked or took part in this 10k and not an issue (not that I could see)! I was a bit nervous going into this event, figuring the monster crowds would be hard to navigate. But I am happy to report that we had no issues finding parking, no issues getting around to the start and we had no issues at the finish. One real surprise was the expo feel in Monroe park, just a few yards from the finish. We were very impressed with the execution, support and overall experience, we WILL BE BACK!
A far cry from just other 10k, the Monument Ave race is known for their fancy dress costume contest. While I did not have time to look at the costumes while running, but after I did enjoy seeing all the fancy dressed runners. I’m very proud to report, from the best that I could tell I did not get beat by any running hot dogs. My personnel favorite and group winner, (a team entry of a co workers daughter) was a state fair roller coaster. Check them out at @rvacostume on Twitter.
All in all The Monument Ave 10k was a huge success both for the organizers, city of Richmond and Michele and I.
When was your last PR, tell us about it...leave a comment below!
When was your last PR, tell us about it...leave a comment below!
Congrats on the PR. The Monument Avenue 10k, and the other SportsBackers races I have done, are among the best from an organizational standpoint. They have done it right with seeding runners and the wave starts. I'd love to get back to it next year.
ReplyDeleteCongrats!! I can't imagine that many runners in a 10K. It must have been very well organized. Good luck in that 24 hour run!
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