Race Report: Army Ten Miler

On Sunday, I ran the 32nd annual Army Ten Miler.  This was my 8th running of the race.  Considering that I’ve only lived here 9 years, that’s a pretty good record.

What can I say about this race?  I love it.  I always enjoy the ten mile distance, and this race has exceptional atmosphere.  It’s a big race – 35,000 people – but if anyone can handle organization in a race that size, it’s the Army.

Of course, in a race like this, there is a ton of patriotism.  Lots of people running in honor of fallen soldiers.  Lots of Wounded Warriors participating in the race.  Lots of people running carrying giant flags.  It’s a really positive atmosphere.

This year was a bit more complicated since Metro isn’t opening early for races.  Shannon and I drove and got to the parking garage around 5:30.  My wave didn’t start til close to 9am, so we were definitely there earlier than we needed to be, but with the closed roads and large number of people driving in, I don’t regret the decision to get there so early.

It was actually raining in the morning as well, though it stopped before the race started.  I wonder how many people stayed away due to Metro and the weather.  Looking at the results, it looks like about 24,000 people finished.  Last year, there were 26,300, and around the same in 2014 as well.  So the numbers definitely were down.

While it didn’t rain, it was super windy.  I’m not sure how the people carrying giant flags handled the last bit of the race without blowing over.

My race turned out spectacularly.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, just two weeks out from Augusta.  (I have to admit, Augusta feels SO long ago at this point.  I can’t believe it’s been just over two weeks.)  My coach warned me that it was going to suck.  Surprisingly, it didn’t.

A bit part of that was that my friend Tricia and I ran into each other, so we ran the race together.  I don’t see her very often, so it was awesome to catch up and chat for those ten miles.  Made them go much faster than I expected.

Finished in 2:14ish, which I can’t be disappointed by.  I would have liked to be under 2:10, but given what I was coming off of, I think that was probably overly ambitious.  Either way, I finished, had a great time, and felt great.

Unfortunately, the next day I was super sore, likely from being so very cold before the race.  I wasn’t really warmed up when I started.  Ideally, I would have started slower, but who can manage that in a race?  I think I was more sore after this race than I was after Augusta!

Now, on to the next adventure.

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