Surf City 10K Race Report
Posted on Sep 28, 2019 under Race | No Comment
Disclaimer: I received free entry to Surf City 10 as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
I registered for the Surf City 10 race in January, so I knew I had more than enough time to train for the race. I had initially signed up to run the 10-mile distance, but I was never able to ramp up my training enough to run that race confidently. But I was able to run the 10K without much trouble. Here are the results: 54:31 (8:46 min/mi), age group: 22/59, gender: 95/411, and overall: 142/1192. When I first registered for the Surf City 10, I was excited to run along the scenic Huntington Beach, but a few months before the race they announced that it would be a night run. I’ve had mixed results running at night, I wrote a blog post about running in the morning vs at night. When I was in high school, we went on a few night runs (with glow sticks) and I usually ran pretty fast, mostly because I was afraid of my surroundings and was trying to finish the run as soon as possible. On a similar note, running a race at night is a nice change. Instead of having to go to sleep at 9pm or earlier the night before and then waking up at 4am the day of the race is tough. I recall waking up early for one race, forcing myself out of bed while most of the world was still fast asleep. I looked in the mirror and said to myself, “why are you doing this to yourself?!” It’s a hard question to answer, it’s hard to justify putting yourself through that torture!
We got to the race about 30 minutes before the start and drove around looking for parking and got lucky when another car left just before. My friend picked up my bib for me, but I picked up another bib at the tent and it was super quick. The shirt was nice, but it’s a shame that I didn’t get to wear it during the race because I found out afterward that it glows in the dark! The race started at 6:30pm which was just as the sun was starting to set. So it was a nice distraction to stare (not directly) at the sun during the first mile or two of the race. The course itself was pretty straightforward, you run up Pacific Coast Highway and turn around at the halfway mark. So as a runner, you get to run along the ocean the entire time. What I didn’t notice was that it was quite humid during the race, I was sweating a lot more than usual. But since the sun was down for most of the race, we didn’t have to worry about the heat. There were water stations along the course as well as clear markers for each mile, so that was nice. Like most races, the start and finish line is the most exciting part of a race, this was no different. The medal was a tiny surfboard which is fitting for a race called the Surf City 10. And the after race snacks were a nice treat as well. I’m not sure if next year’s race will be at night again (I like the hashtag, #RunatSUNDOWN), but if you are looking for a race near the beach, the Surf City 10 is a great option to make this race as a mini vacation.
