Mercedes Benz Cotton Row 10k

Ok! Pictures have been fixed so time to get this thing rolling!

Before I start my Race Report I would first like to take a moment to say Thank You to any veteran who happens to read this. This country would not be what it is today if not for all those who willingly take up arms to protect this country and its values. My heart felt gratitude goes out to you all and to those who have or has had family serve in the armed forces or who has lost loved ones in the military.

Something that isn't said nearly enough anymore and something I would like to start this RR off as it is also who we started our race today!

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

To start things off we woke up at 2:50am this morning in order to get up, get ready, take the dogs out, get everything together and be out of the house by 3:45am. From my house its a 2 hour drive to Huntsville and I still needed to pick up my packet which was being held from 6:00am to 6:45am. The drive there went fine! I slept the whole way . At least up to the point where my wife woke me up and said we had passed a Huntsville exit and wanted to know if we went to far. I looked at the GPS and according to it we were going the right way. After looking at it a bit longer I realized the GPS stopped updating and we had passed our exit :/ Luckily we were able to get off at the next exit and only had to back track about 10 minutes so we still arrived in plenty of time to park and pick up the packet.

Once I picked up my packet we walked around for a bit and I decided I would run down a ways and come back to just get things warmed up and see how my leg was feeling. Well it was feeling a bit sore and it made me pretty nervous about the upcoming race, I decided I would just run and see how it went.

6:40 rolls around and all the sudden BOOM!!!! Gun goes off and the announcer informs us that we have 20 minutes and we needed to start lining up. I give out kisses and hugs and everyone wishes me luck. I get in line and realize I totally forgot my Run for Boston bracelet  I run back to my wife to see if anyone had theirs on and apparently I'm not the only one who forgot to bring it... oh well, I make my way back in line and stand and wait for the race to start.

I really didn't know what to expect before the race started but everything that followed was really cool. The announcer said a prayer that was very heart warming and actually had me a little choked up. After we said our prayers a world war 2 veteran led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. This was probably the coolest moment in the race. I felt so proud at that moment to be a US citizen. Once that was over another veteran sang America the beautiful followed by 3 very loud shots and then it was go time!

Pledge

Here was the smoke after the firing of the rifle

Now its time to start this race. There was about 2150 participants in the 10k so it took me a little bit to finally make my way to the starting line and really find a pace I felt comfortable I could hold. Here are a few pics of the starting line up

All those people in the front are the elite runners, their finish time is very impressive and I will share some more photos of them later 

Elite runner's legs... enjoy (legs for both the men and women)

Mile 1 starts and I have to bob and weave my way through a boat load of runners. I'm feeling ok, my leg is giving me a little bit of an issue but its nothing race threatening. For the most part this mile was pretty easy and I just kind went with the flow trying to make a conscience effort not to push to hard but try to at least push hard enough that a sub one hour is within my grasp. For the most part the first half of this race is a slow steady incline but nothing difficult. Mile 1 is completed and I'm feeling pretty good about obtaining my goals. 9:18.

Mile 2 was nice and level and so far the weather was still nice and breezy. I felt strong through this mile and was still trying to keep my time in check so I didn't wear myself out before I even got started. Really not much else to say about this mile so mile 2 done. 9:03. A little faster than last mile and still possible for a sub one hour.

Mile 3 came around and it was a bit more difficult, some nice rolling hills and the weather seemed to have gotten just a wee bit hotter. The hills slowed me down a bit but I just kept pushing and told myself I still had time to make that sub one hour. Mile 3 beeps and my time is 9:25. This isn't good. I need to speed it up or I'm not going to make my goal. This is unfortunate to because right at the end of mile 3 is the hill from hell...

First .10 of Mile 4 is the hill from hell and holy crap was it steep. It wasn't a very long hill but it was practically straight up, I tried to run this hill but only made it about half way up before I just said "screw it" and walked the remaining distance. After you top the hill you take a quick right and have to run up hill just a little bit more. My avg pace was like 13 m/m for this hill and I knew I really had to make some time up. Once we topped this hill I over heard someone say it was all downhill from here, Thank God! Maybe I could make up some time and still run this thing under an hour. End of Mile 4 - 9:39. Its not looking good, but I was determined not to give up!

Mile 5 was pretty much downhill the entire way so I just relaxed talked to the ol' guy beside me for about a half a mile and just let the conversation and downhill do its job. Mile 5 - 8:26. I'M STILL IN THIS!!! HURRAH!!

Mile 6, only 1.2 miles left to go, "Just keep moving those legs, push, push, push, you got this!!" I tell myself this, I run through the water sprinkler I grab some water and just keep pushing myself. At this point the course is pretty flat again so it really was all about finding a comfortable cruise level and sticking with it. Mile 6 - 8:41... My paces are all over the place, lol, but I knew I had this race in the bag. Only .2 left to go.

Last .2 I put what little I had left in the gas tank and just ran, I see the banner in the distance and as I approach it I realize there is no chrono mat  DAMN IT I'M TIRED!) Just a little further and FINALLY! I cross the finish line. My GPS had me pegged at .26 - 7:32m/m or 1:59.

My first 10k is in the bag and I've achieved my goal! My GPS time was a little off as I started it slightly before I crossed the mat but my chrono time was 56:17 and my clock time was 56:49. I'm beyond happy with the result and really enjoyed this distance!

Before we talk about the elites and how awesome they were here are some pics of me coming up to the finish.

FLOATER! Barely...

Now for the impressive part. Here are the elites with some very impressive times! Times of the runner is posted directly below them.

First place winner

Second place

Don't have his time but he was about 10 seconds behind the first place winner.

Now are just some random finish line finishers of no specific order.

And of course before I end this race report and leave you all wanting more pics I have to show off my family because it just wouldn't be a jblackjr race report if I didn't show up the things I love the most 

The other girl in the pic is my sister's friend. I think she is interested in running as well so hopefully I can get her and my sister into it and drag two more people into the world of running 

Silly kids...

Some completely random shots

From what I understand the first place runner won this!!!

I honestly have to say this was the most fun I have had doing a race. The only things that would have really pushed this over the top is if my wife was able to run "still out of commission with a hurt foot". Bobby and Melanie would have been able to come. And last but not least I would have liked Mitch to have been there. Aside from those three things I could not have asked for a more perfect day!

Course

Elevation chart

I finished 831/2105 overall and 59/116 AG. These ranking were based on clock time. My chip time was faster but they did not give ranking based off of chip. Oh well.