Trail Running Blog

2012 Scripps Ranch 10K Race Report

This race report should be pretty brief. This was my 4^th year in a row running this race, I’m hoping to continue with that tradition for many years to come. It’s a well-organized, local race that helps support local organizations within the community. Although I had a trend of running faster than previous years (2011, 2010, 2009), this one was actually the slowest out of the 4. I’m not surprised though considering how little I’ve been running lately. I did a 3.8 mile ‘race’ with my friend last week and I actually beat my pace from that run, which was nice. Official results: 43:27, 6.29 miles (6:54 min/mile), 17/71 AG, 202/1732. It would have been nice to move up 2 places for top 15/200 respectively, oh well. I was very happy with my splits too: 7:13, 7:17, 7:12, 7:07, 6:52, 6:19, 1:27. It always amazes me when I do run consistent splits and how much better I feel during the race, and especially at the end.

I woke up later for this race since it was only about a 10 minute drive away from home. But I had a hard time finding parking (since there were cyclists getting ready for their respective races). I was able to pick up my bib just before the start, but couldn’t make my way to the front. In fact, I was one of the last ones to start the race! As I was making my way to the front, I noticed there were a lot of people just stopped behind the line. At first I thought, ‘maybe they’re letting people go in waves?’ But I still saw stragglers up ahead starting. It finally hit me that the people waiting were people running the 2 mile fun run!

This was the first time starting at the very back of the race; I have to admit it was not fun! It was so crowded back there, it was nearly impossible to weave through all of the runners. There were more than one instance where I got stuck behind a slower runner, but had no opening to pass, so I’d just be stuck behind them for a while. It finally started to clear up a couple of miles into the race, but after way too many zig zags around other runners. Since I was able to pick up the pace later on, keeping my pace slower at the beginning probably played to my benefit overall.

Since the race takes place mostly around the lake where I do my long runs, I was very comfortable running this course. There were slight rolling hills throughout, so I knew when to surge and for how long, which helped pass a lot of runners. The last part of the race was a downhill finish, so I was also able to use that to my advantage. Most runners stay the same pace, while some even slow down to lower the impact on their legs, I actually use gravity and speed up! I didn’t put any blister powder in my socks like I usually do, so my feet were burning up the last half mile or so. But I was able to endure it, didn’t get any blisters and survived the race.

I was supposed to run the Rock n Roll Chicago half, but the timing didn’t really work out. So instead of that half, I was able to swap that entry for the RnR in New York. I’ve been to New York at least 2 times now, but enjoyed it each time, so I’m happy to go again and actually run a race too. I actually have no races planned now for the next couple of months. But I’m sure I’ll sign up for a few soon. We just moved to a new office at work, which is actually closer to my place (~5 miles) than the old location. So in addition to riding my bike to work, I might try a run there one day! There’s also a gym in the building, so I’m hoping to work out there as well. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be super fit by the end of this summer 🙂