Melissa’s 10K Road Race–Race Report

Can you believe it – I have a race report for you!  I have run Melissa’s every year since 2007 so it feels like a bit of a tradition.  I signed up way back in February and almost forgot about the race last weekend.  Truth be told, I also contemplated not running it this year.  I was almost ready to bail when my friend Kelly asked if I would run the 10K with her as a fun run.  Who can say no to that?

My friend Pam was swayed by the idea of a fun run and my mom also snagged a bib at the last minute.  It was a gorgeous day in Banff – definitely the warmest I’ve ever seen at the start of the race.  We met all of our friends at the start and grabbed a quick picture between trips to the porta-potties.  Kelly was awesome.  To keep things fun she brought Pam and I baggies of gummy candies as little rewards for each kilometer finished.Soon it was time to line up for the start!  We had agreed to run 3:1 intervals and to walk the big hill.  Gotta keep it fun!  We were on our first walk break when I spied my dad with the camera so we picked it up to run for the photo op.The route was different from previous years with a different climb up Tunnel Mountain.  No matter how you slice it, the hike up Tunnel Mountain is a long one!  We agreed to run the downhill and to keep our minds occupied we started playing a game.  We all went through the alphabet, coming up with different foods we wanted to eat once we crossed the finish line.  Apples…burgers…quesadillas….x-tra crispy fried chicken!

Before I knew it we were down the hill and I spotted my husband and my dad.We had a short out and back section left to go, then it would be on the the finish line.  I was fading here.  How long has it been since I ran 10K??  A long time.The girls were awesome and we stuck together.  We would cross that finish line together!!After we were done we managed to find the rest of our friends, plus we found the beer line too…While I may be a long ways away from my 55:10 10K PR pace it felt great to race again.  In fact, I went home and signed up for a couple more 10Ks in October!

Thanks again for making this race fun Kelly and Pam!  I really appreciated the company and motivation along the way!