Veterans Victory Fun Run Walk 10K Race Report
Is anyone else wondering if Mother Nature thought “Hey! It’s almost the end of August! I didn’t really do that summer weather thing… maybe I should now!”? Ha ha.
We’ve had a recent streak of hot weather and humid days. Which, actually, was fantastic for the beach this weekend. But… a little challenging for running.
Eh, it’s summer. I expect it. I am actually surprised we’ve had such a mild summer, so far, and, uh, how little I took advantage of it, running-wise. Ha. Wassup wit dat?!
So. It was humid this weekend. And Rachel and I were registered to run the Victory Fun Run Walk before heading out of town to Iowa. It was perfect timing – we planned to leave late Saturday morning anyway, so why not run a local 5K/10K in her neighborhood?
The race is a fundraiser for the Edgerton Hospital’s Capital Foundation and had a 1 mile, 5K and 10K option. It’s called the Victory Fun Run Walk in honor of the service star women who helped raise funds for the previous hospital* (the race was at the new hospital).
Of course, we chose the 10K option! Rachel and I both have fall marathons, so we gotta get those miles in!
Rachel let me know it would be hilly, so I was planning on a slower pace, but man, it wasn’t so much the hills (I mean, it still was…) but the humidity! It was just oppressive. I could barely breathe the whole time. It was hard. Probably the hardest 10K I have ever done!
I was happy I was running with Rachel so I had someone to chat with, until I ran out of steam (you know, metaphorical steam, because I had plenty of actual steam around me).
The race was an out and back, down a hilly access road, through a neighborhood, on some (you guessed it hilly) country roads, through another neighborhood… and back. There was one water stop at the 1.5/4.5 mile point and plenty of volunteers telling us where to go, and cheering us on. Ha ha, they were so nice, saying things like “You look great! This is such a hard day for a race!”
I think only 15-18 people did the 10K… if even that many! It’s funny, the girl who won the 10K was wearing the same shirt as me. I kept joking with Rachel that she was my teammate and I “let her” take this win. Uh, yeah. And you know, we maybe finished 6th and 7th females overall, but most of the ladies who finished in front of us were in the 30-39 age group. Dammito! Ha, not really.
We finished in an hour and three and a half minutes or so. I am not sure what our official time was. The course was short… and I was so okay with that. I was just proud of myself for surviving.
The race was small and well run – the type of race I really enjoy. I’d like to come race again in Edgerton when it’s not so humid. Okay, and I could stand to do a little hill training… maybe!
I loved that they gave us these little dog tags with the race name and year on it! You know I totally put that on my medal rack. Hee hee!
And… I loved that they were playing my power song when we started the race! I told Rachel, any race that plays Van Halen, ACDC, or ZZ Top at the start, is a good race.
*They explained this much better at the start of the race but I had a hard time hearing, so that is what I read here.
Themocracy
WOW, you go girl…it was SOOOO humid we had to skip our long run this weekend. GREAT job!
I’m kind of done with the heat, but I admit that we don’t have much humidity in the LA area, so I can’t complain about that! Great ‘medal’ – that is super fun!
What is the humidity like, there? I have a friend who lives in CA now and she was saying how crazy it is for her to visit home (east coast) and deal with summer weather again!
There is almost NO humidity! It’s always a shock to the system to head east, but it’s also kind of nice because usually the more humid places are greener. When I went to NC at the beginning of the summer, I couldn’t believe how lush it was! We’re in our 3rd year of drought, so, yeah, it’s really dry here.
Oh yeah, I just saw some before and after pic thing on FB that showed how awful your drought is!
You did a great job surviving the run. It was crazy conditions – don’t forget we had to breathe exhuast fumes too! hahah.
Thanks for doing the race with me. It’s become a tradition and I’m glad I got to keep it going!
Ha ha ha. Those helpful exhaust fumes. Thanks for stopping, buddy! 😀
You are welcome! Thanks for inviting me!!! I think it’s fantastic that you have one that you like to do each year! That is how I feel about the Frosty Footrace! Want to come do it? 😉 We can have a fight to the death for AG placements! 🙂
Oh my goodness, you can just see the humidity in those photos. I’m angry with Mother Nature for giving us that nice cool weather and then making it really hot. It’s time for fall already! I am all about Van Halen as workout music. I jam to “Panama” and a few more of their hits all the time.
Ha! That is what my bestie said when I sent her the pic! Isn’t that nuts?!
We are going to LOVE fall. Gah. I love fall anyway. It’s such a fabulous season.
Panama is such a great jam! I love to blast it in the car when I am driving, too 🙂
I love the dog tag! It’s such a cute touch.
I am not digging this humidity at all. It makes me want to hurt people since it hurts my running. I am so glad that this summer has been manageable.
Cool dog tag!
Haha usually when I see someone wearing the same thing as me, I shout “Hi shoe twin!”, or whatever kind of clothing they are wearing that is the same. They usually stare at me like I’m nuts, but whatcha gonna do.
Keep shouting at them! Ha! This girl liked it!!! She pretended we were on the team, too. (Well, she said “go team stripes!” or something 😉 )
This heat is slowly killing me! Looks like a brutal race with all those hills though :/
Next year you need to head south to run this and let us know which one actually is The Toughest 10K in the Midwest http://www.jpdrun3.com/rockdale-ramblin-run.php
Well, if that race is not hot with 95% humidity, it will probably feel easier. It wasn’t so much the course, as what was going on with the weather that made it the hardest 10K I have done.
It still looks like it was a pretty hilly course!
Oh Gawwwwd, look at all that mist/fog/humidity! You are really a champ for fighting through it; I guess it helped to have a friend and a “teammate” on the course too. 🙂
Way to to to you and Rachel! Ugh, that does look hilly to me.
Oh and cute shirt.