On Saturday, April 8th, my husband and I participated in Lethbridge’s oldest running event-The 10 Mile Road Race.  This event was celebrating it’s 44th birthday this year!  I have ran in the 10 mile race 3 different times, with my best finish being last year with a 1:12.59-good enough for 2nd female overall and I walked away with some spending cash for Boston!  My husband has only done the 10 mile race one other time, and that was in 2015 when he ran with no training and finished in 1:46.53.  Let’s just say this year was quite a bit different than those two times!

First off, I ran in the 4 mile race for the first time.  It would just have the gentle rolling of Scenic Drive and no major hills.  Dan would be doing the 10 mile again, but he has been training.  He has been participating in the Tuesday night Runners Soul Racing Team which does speed workouts, and he has been running two other days during the week.  It doesn’t sound like much, but for a ‘non-runner’ it’s pretty good!

It was crazy windy the morning of the race.  Warm, but windy!  Dan started the 10 mile at 9 am, and the 4 mile followed at 9:20 am.  Dan and I talked about a pace goal for himself, and based on his most recent 8 mile training run we figured he could do an 8 minute mile pace.  I was hoping to run under 30 minutes in the 4 mile.

The 4 mile race goes out and back on Scenic Drive.  It is great to be able to see those ahead of you turn around and head back.  You really get a good idea of where you stand in the pack.  I was able to start at 2nd place female and hold on to this position the whole race.  The wind was really getting me at open spots, especially in front of Sugar Bowl.  There are a lot of younger kids out there doing this race too (4 miles is pretty doable!) so it was fun to talk to the kids as they were running and cheer them on.  I was aware of how much was left on the course, so I made sure to tell the little guy next to me that there was only 400 metres left and he should just push it!  Off he went!  I finished with a chip time of 30:57; a bit off my goal of sub 30, but good enough to place 2/102 female runners, 1/26 in age group of 30-39 and 13/155 overall.

I cooled down a bit, talked to some friends, got my layers of clothes on, and got ready to be watching for Dan.  His 8 minute mile pace would bring him in at 1:20, so I was not in any rush….but then my friend Drew and I saw him coming in!  He was way ahead of pace!  He finished the 10 mile race in a time of 1:14.33!  That was an average pace of 7:27 a mile!  Holy shit!  He has a very challenging age group, placing 7/18 in 30-39 men, 13/48 in men, and 14/92 overall.  Did I mentioned he beat his 2015 time by over 30 minutes?!?!?!  What the hell Dan!?!?!?

We stuck around for the 4 mile awards, where I received a silver medal for my 2nd place overall, a $75 gift certificate to Runners Soul (which I already spent on leggings) and then a gold age group medal.  It was great to see current and former students I have coached there participating, and many of them also receiving age group awards!  This is a great local race and the two distances (plus the new 1 mile kids race!) offers something for everyone.  Can’t wait for the 45th next year!