#43 - Staunton Ten Miler

It was about 45 degrees when we left Broadway this morning at 6:00 a.m. I was tempted to stay home, but Butch reminded me, "About 9 o'clock you're going to hate yourself for skipping this race you've been so looking forward to."
And this was an awesome course -- much better than last year when I ran it at 1:47:33 and took second in my age group. Last year the course had 28 turns and almost no break from the uphills. This year we ran down Beverley to Commerce, and then took a turn onto a country road where even the cows cheered us on with their contented moos.
Volunteers cheered, yet remained attentive to task and didn't let anyone miss a turn. They warned of lane switches and upcoming turns in plenty of time to adjust pace and course. All I had to think about was running.
Club member Marlin Yoder couldn't run the race as he's still recovering from taking first in his age group at an Ultra (100 miler) a couple weekends ago. But that didn't stop him from cheering us on. Near the end he ran with me for a ways through Gypsy Hill Park -- cheering me on, pushing me to run just a bit harder than I thought I could, reminding me that I was just almost there. And then he said, "I'm going to catch Butch next. . ." Which he did. . .he said it was about as fun to cheer as it is to run the races. Well, I don't know about that, but I DO know that I ran much faster than I thought I could and did this course at 1:33:30. And I think that push and some loud cheers from club members at the end let me reach that time.
SVTC club member Carmin Green was the first female. Jack Marmestein from Rosetta Stone, who often runs with our group during races but isn't a member, was the first male. Butch and I took third in our age groups. Another club member also took third place in her group. So the Club cleaned house again.