River Towns Finale

This past weekend Kara & I made the drive to Danville for the 14th annual DACC 5k. Being that the race was on Halloween, the promoters got into the spirit with theie parade float and some cool Zombie & Dracula costumes. They also used the Halloween theme to great success by having every corner marshalled by a volunteer in an oange race t-shirt. In just the three events we did in the series, the thing that stands out is how much passion the promoters and race series director have. Definitely enjoying the experience is paramount, and we are looking forward to doing more of the RiverTowns Series next year.
On to the race.
It amazes the amount of energy in teens. It is kind of cool to watch kids at running races go crazy for 1/4 to 1 mile just to see how long they can stay in the lead. The DACC race was no different. The passion of youth was in full force, as I was only 10th after a lap on the track. A nice steady pace put me at mile 1 in 5:30 and in third, with kara just behind at 5:48. We then turned on to a Dike to run almost 1/2 mile directly into a 15 mph headwind. I sat behind another guy until we were off the Dike and then made a steady made to run straight through. As the course turned I could see Kara coming off of the Dike and she had a comfy lead and was 6th overall. I hit the 2 mile mark around 11:15. I knew the last mile was predominantly uphill through the Danville State Hospital grounds. It was cool running through DSH, as I used to go there every Tuesday when it was part of my territory. That was definitely an interesting experience. I decided to hit it for the rise and see if I could drop the guy with me. Sure enough the TWO days of land training I had done in October must have paid off. I moved away and there was no knee or IT Band pain. I actually raced the last mile only glancing back once. Onto the track and my gap was secure. I crossed in 18:30 for the win and Kara rolled a 19:47 for the Women's win. After we did a little "Map My Run", we confirmed our thoughts, the course was a little long.
The event was great and I would highly recomend it. Super volunteers, safe course, nice ups, downs, turns, terrain changes, hot coffee, good eats and a super sweet $100 payout to win.
I dig this series.