Monday, May 14, 2012

Race Recap: Manassas Runway 10K

I love running and I love airplanes. But, I never thought I would be able to enjoy both these things at the same time. Yet, the Manassas Runway 10K was just that. When I found this race, I thought I was dreaming. A road race staged at an airport? I couldn't believe it! I asked Katie if she would be interested in running it with me and she said she was, so we both signed up!

The weather on race day was beautiful. Albeit a bit on the chilly side in the early morning hours, the sun was shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Katie and I had no time/pace goal for this race. Instead, we were looking forward to running together and enjoying the distance. Once the race got under way, I let Katie dictate the pace.

We cruised through the first mile at just under a sub-9 min/mile pace. Once we reached the second mile, it was onto the airport's runway! I must say, I've never run on a course that was so wide! But, even with all that space, we crowded onto one side of the runway. I guess us runners like to stick together!

Before I knew it, we were at the halfway point. The second half of the race consisted of two out and back sections, which are never a favorite of mine. But, for whatever reason, I didn't mind them as much as I thought I would. I could tell that Katie's pace had picked up from the first half of the race. But, she said she was feeling good, so we went with it.

By the time we neared the 6 mile mark, Katie had dropped our pace into another gear! She was flying!...no pun intended. :) As we approached the finished line, a spectator had apparently taken note of Katie's fast pace because I heard them yell out, "You go girl!" We crossed the finished line in 53:44 and we felt great! Not exactly sure what our mile splits were since I wasn't wearing my watch, but it definitely felt like each mile we ran was faster than the previous one.

The Manassas Runway 10K was definitely a cool race for the aviation dork in me. But, what made this race even sweeter was running it with Katie! We had such a blast! Next race for me is the North Face Endurance Challenge 50K trail run right here in DC. It's going to be a tough race, but I'm really looking forward to my first trail run of the year!

3 comments:

  1. I will be cheering you on at Northface..working an aid station :) Great job on the airport run!

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    1. Awesome! Do you know what aid station you are working at? Thanks for coming out to help!

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  2. This sounds so cool - I love airports and planes! Jealous.

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