Race Report for Gobble Gobble 10K in Southbridge

I am so glad I decided to run this race. I worked in the ER last night from 2pm to 2am and didn’t get home and into bed until 4am. When the alarm went off 3 1/2 hours later, my first thought was, “Are you fu#$ing kidding me?” I looked out the window and saw that it looked cold. I entertained the idea of blowing off the race. I could always use the temperature as an excuse and blame it on not wanting the girls to get cold. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes and finally jumped up disgusted with myself for even contemplating skipping a race.

I loaded up the running stroller, diaper bag, snacks and drinks, and got my multiple-layered, fleece-lined jeans-wearing kids in the jeep and off we went. We got to the race and I noticed the unmistakeable Team Hoyt duo. Holy crap I didn’t know they were doing this race. This is just a little local 5 and 10K.

All the runners started together exactly at 10am. I felt myself slipping into the 5K pace (mile 1 split 7:16), so I forced myself to slow down a little bit. The course was not overly challenging. There were some hills, but nothing too obnoxious. When we got to the 3 mile marker, the 5K runners were directed to the right and the 10K folks continued on to the left.

About a quarter mile past the split a silver mini van chased us down and informed us that we made a wrong turn, the 5K people were supposed to go the other way. I replied, “I know. I’m doing the 10K, but thank you.” She replied, “Oh. Good job. Keep it up.” It was actually a little funny. We crossed a river and ran up a gentle steady incline for the better part of the next mile, before making a double right and zipping back down the same incline.

When I got to the 5 mile marker I knew I was headed for a PR. I did the math in my head and figured that I would beat my old one by a bout 1 minute. I wasn’t feeling terrible and I wasn’t satisfied with that, so I kicked it up a little and ended up setting a new PR by 3:32. I finished in 46:36. I’m still not sure what to think about this. Either I ran the last mile in 6 minutes or the marker distance wasn’t accurate.

After the finish I rested for about 2 or 3 minutes and then headed out for 2 additional miles. Today was my scheduled long day. I was supposed to do 10 miles today at an 8:40 pace. I figured 8 miles will a stroller in the 7:30 range was a good enough swap for the day.

We returned to the event area and I saw Dick Hoyt from Team Hoyt. I walked up to him like an awkward teenie bopper fan and shook his hand introducing myself. We talked for 5 or 10 minutes and he’s really a nice guy. This is going to sound weird coming from a straight married guy, but I was struck by how ice blue his eyes are (random thought). Turns out it’s really small world. Dick and Rick Hoyt actually train on the road that I live on. When they are training for their triathlons, they ride their bike right past my driveway. Dick explained that he opted for the 5K today because Rick was having some back pain and he didn’t want to go too far, especially since he has another race on Thanksgiving Day. Keep an eye out for them in January when they travel down to Florida for the Disney World Half Marathon.

This was not from today's race, but THIS is Team Hoyt

I ended up placing 3rd in my age group. I actually finished 4th, but since the overall winner was in my age bracket, I moved up to third for the age groupers. I had my second ever top ten finish (9th out of 45 runners) and feel pretty good about that since my other top ten was without the stroller.

Aubrey won't give back my hardware

The girls had fun as usual. They were jamming to the music. I have two small speakers about the size of a tennis ball each that I put on their stroller long ago. So when we run, they get to hear some tunes. Oh, by the way, to the race volunteer who found and returned my younger daughter’s mitten that I lost somewhere between mile 3 and 4, THANK YOU! You’re awesome.

What a great Sunday. So glad I didn’t stay in bed.