Group Practice #5
10K/6.2 miles on the schedule
Tune-up Race Week
Start time: 6:36 PM

Instead of our typical Saturday morning training session, we had a tune-up race this week! It was also a fundraising event, so people in the community were invited to register for the 10K/5K/1mile race as well.

The turnout was simply amazing… in fact, we sold out! Nearly 500 people registered, plus many of them had friends and family there supporting them. We had a good crowd there!

We had a raffle, race participants and non-race participants could purchase a ticket for a chance at TONS of great prizes… vacations, BMW for a day, shoes from Fleet Feet Sports, meals… so many prizes from generous contributors.

We had a band, Crown Avenue, playing music in the park for everyone. The whole atmosphere was a lot of fun!

Prior to the race we introduced the crowd to our team’s honored heroes… this season’s hero Ashley and last season’s hero Jay.

Then the coaches (Jimmy and me) lead the entire crowd through a quick dynamic warmup… and I admit, for a moment I felt a little goofy up there! But it was fine… nobody laughed and pointed at me, or if they did I didn’t see that! 😉

The 10K started first, followed 5 minutes later by the 5K and then after 5 more minutes the 1 mile. We almost needed a longer stretch between the start line in the parking lot and where the group moved onto the path where most of the race was held, as it was a little crazy as people pushed through the narrow opening. I think we should probably redesign the course for the next year… but still, for a first year event this was so great!

We had a fairly active sky overhead, with lightning flashing and a few sprinkles… but fortunately the rain never dumped. Which was good because our band would have shut down immediately if that was a real threat.

I spent a lot of time on the course, I was the absolute last person back in… and I made certain of that. I walked in at the end with a few of my participants and they asked if they were the last, but I said “Nope, I am!” I wasn’t being timed, I wasn’t in the race as a participant; I may as well have been the last one across the finish line. (I was also first across the finish line, just to make sure to help direct people through the narrow spot.)

The race turned out great and I look forward to it improving in future years… hopefully it just continues to grow. Even if people aren’t really interested in the cause, it appeals as a great tuneup race for people racing the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon or Half Marathon, because it’s an evening race!

I had a blast and I hope my team all had a good experience. It was the first 10K for so many of them!

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