MikeB1 said it well. It was a good gathering of RW Forum and Penguin Brigade folks. J’net, who lives in Columbia, MD where the race was held, associated the race name with the Penguin Brigade and served as the catalyst to pull us all together to run it. I’m glad she did. It was a fun event.......even if the race director “exaggerated” when she described the course as “gently rolling hills.” I think when she said that she couldn’t find a “monster” hill to put in it, her tongue was poking a hole through her cheek....she found two. L

 

Seriously, it was a moderately challenging course. The first mile was downhill. The second mile was a loop that started downhill and finished uphill......just in time to repeat the first mile in the opposite direction......uphill! It was a course on which “negative” splits were definitely shown by perceived effort and not shown on the watch.

 

I had hoped to run 25 minutes or better.....but it was not to be. I got 26:09. My average pace was exactly the same as my last 10k in December.....8:26/mile. The difference was that the 10k was on a flat course, and this one was anything but flat. I estimate that the hills cost at least a minute.

 

Oh well. I learned a long time ago that not all races can live up to your expectations. At least, this one gave me some indication that I am moving in the right direction. Even if the clock didn’t show improvement, I feel that I have advanced. And, I certainly needed the hard hill work!

 

It was great to see Tomi, MikeB1, J’net, and John and Cathy Reniewicz (Renk and Cathy on the Masters Forum) again. And, Jackie and Sarah, a couple of Penguin Brigaders who I met at the Jingle Bells run in Dec, plus the ladies from PA and NY, who came down just for this race.

 

A good race with a few wonderful folks!

 

Jim2