Elgin Valley Fox Trot 10 Mile Race Report
Why did my first 10 miler (the Elgin Valley Fox Trot) have to be so hilly (and windy)? Why why why?
Actually, this is just what you get when you say you will run a race without looking up any information about the actual race before signing up. As of this morning, I did not know what time the race started, where it started, if there was water on the course, or what the course was like. Thankfully, running club friends were picking me up, so I did not have to worry about getting there.
Grayslake Running Club Friends (me in orange) – I look so tired because I got up at 2:30 am to drive Mica to the airport. We had a lot of fun and I was happy to spend time with her before she left for Korea for the summer!
I did look at the course on my phone and then saw an old blog post from someone saying it was hilly. Then on the ride down, my running club friends did confirm that Elgin is hilly.
Yay…
Okay, it was not THAT bad.
Driving down there was an interesting lightening show and really threatening clouds. But it never rained and the race started on time. It was actually decent enough weather for running – when we started it was 64° and it was 62° when we finished!
So enough blah blah blahing. After an beautifully sung national anthem, and an announcement by the race director (saying you cannot walk the course… huh?) we were off.
No one in the club was doing a pace that I felt comfortable trying, so I decided to do one mile at a comfortable fast pace and see if I could keep that pace. The first few miles were in the 8:20s. I was already wondering if I could keep that up. Miles 4-5 were a giant downhill and I tried to speed up more because I had a feeling we would be going back up that hill (hated knowing that). I stayed about the same pace. I slowed down for miles 6-9 when I wondered when the hell I would ever have to turn around and go back up that hill.
I really wanted to push the last mile (and it was downhill, thankfully), and was starting to get tired when this woman said to me “I’ve been pacing off of you for a few miles! Don’t slow down now!” So we raced to the end. The last mile was my fastest (7:52, all others were in the 8:00s). I felt like I was flying and my feet were burning. I am excited to see the official photos.
My finish time was 1:25:22 for an overall 8:33 pace.
Some things went really well for me on this race. I did a really good job running the tangents and my watch said I ran exactly 10.0. That helped with pacing. I took a GU before and at mile 5 and never felt hungry. I never stopped to walk. I took my handheld and didn’t have to slow down much for water.
This course is really well run and has a lot of perks!
- You get to see some really cool houses in Elgin.
- You run through a zoo with bison!
- There are showers to use for free.
- There was a fun 80s/90s rock band at the end.
- Lots of awesome food for free and for sale, one free beer for every runner (did not get mine).
- Free massages, vendors, etc.
- AMAZING volunteers!
Cons:
- Hills
- Boring out and back from miles 4ish to 8ish (it was along the Prairie Path but not on it)
I had a lot of fun driving down with my running club, hanging out before and after the race, and driving back. I’ll have to do the whole club race thing again sometime.
Themocracy
Wow, awesome time!!!! Sounds like it was a great race. Bison! How fun! I did a race at Brookfield Zoo last December and there weren’t that many animals out so it wasn’t as fun as I had hoped it would be. (And the course was short.)
What really surprised me is that people in my club did not even notice the bison! They said they don’t notice things like that when they are racing! LOL! Guess I am not really in the zone!
Dude. Your time totally kicks ass. ESPECIALLY considering there were hills.
You run through a zoo!?! Awesome…that’s a great time too, especially since it was so hilly!
Congrats Kimbot. Yeah Elgin is hilly thanks to the Fox River Valley. Hills if you train on them can be a runners best friend. I laugh when people ask how flat is Chicago. Hill running can make you stronger.
I ran Soldier Field 10 today thanks to a comp entry (again) from Clif Bar. Working part-time for them as good perks and this was one of them. I did OK, still slow but given my major lack of training this year I was happy to beat the goal for the day I set myself. Still many time zones off my PR from years ago. I’ll write a blogger review tonight or tomorrow.
Congrats on beating your goal for Soldier Field! Can’t wait to read your review 🙂
Awesome job!!! That’s a killer top for a flat course! And you pulled it off with hills! Way to go!
Wow, that’s a speedy 10 miles!
You did awesome!! I’m so glad the weather held up for you – I was thinking about you guys while I was sitting in my car texting Yvonne…and you had a GREAT time, speedy! Congrats!
Ohh nice to hear of another 10 miler! I thought you were doing Soldier Field 10 miler. Your race sounded much more interesting!
Great race Kim, especially with hills and wind. I’m so glad you did not get the rain we had up here. Congrats!
Super speedy!! I need to run with you more often, and catch the speedy running bug. I can’t believe your garmin actually said 10.0. Thats on my bucket list, to run a race at its actual distance.
Ha! That is a good bucket list item. It’s probably the first time it has happened to me!
We should get together for a run soon!
Good job! I used to live not far from there (in Geneva)…
You had an amazing race! I am jealous of your time because it’s faster than my 10 mile PR 🙂
Anyway, maybe you need to run more races where you just show up without really thinking about it beforehand…
Congrats! Would you recommend that race? As you know, I love 10 milers, and my parents actually live out near Elgin. If it ever happens to not be on the same day as the SF10, I’d love to do this one!
I would definitely recommend this race. It’s well run and has a fun atmosphere. The only bad part is the hills 🙂
That is a killer pace for 10 miles! Nice job
Awesome job on the 10 miler! You did great. And great job on the tangents! Well done. I always have trouble with that.
WOW! Congrats on a great race!!!