One Sole Purpose 10k

I won a free entry to the One Sole Purpose 10k through my running club, so gave this super hilly Springfield race a try for the first time. Race morning was warm with 100% humidity, plus I wanted to run 20 miles total for the day, so I did not have ambitious time goals for the race. I did hope I could manage an overall female win, though.

I ran 4.2 miles before the race to "warm up", i.e. become drenched in sweat and probably dehydrated. I tried to time it so I wouldn't be standing around for very long, but the race started a few minutes later than scheduled so I probably had about 7 minutes of waiting. Not terrible, but not ideal in the middle of a long run.

Pre-race

I started conservatively and in second female position. I suspected the teenage girl ahead of me was in the 5k but the effort felt comfortable for the distance, so I stayed pretty close to her. Some men that I usually run with or finish in front of were ahead of me, but I reminded myself they were likely not making it into a 20 mile day like I was. I also didn't feel very motivated to push; I think I was tired from the week.

The race started up a short hill then went down a fairly long decline. I relaxed down it but knowing I had to run back up it didn't excite me. I'd run the course on easy runs before so knew what I was in for. I also knew my splits would be all over the place. The course had several turns and at each one there was a volunteer holding an big arrow that displayed the distance on it. Our first turn was shortly after the start and their arrow said 0.1 which made me giggle. Throughout the race I ended up really liking the distance arrows since I always knew where I was at.

By the mile mark I was in first female position for both races with several men ahead of me. I didn't feel good but I felt like I could maintain my effort level. The second mile was up and down and up and down, and at 1.8 the 5k split off and headed back towards the finish. The 5k ran one big loop and the 10k did the same loop with an added "tail". We started our out-and-back section after the 5k split off. We had another downhill bit that again was hard to enjoy knowing we'd come back up it, plus I got a bad side ache on it. I passed a couple of men on that section and wasn't sure what overall place I was in but didn't think there were too many more in front of me.

The next turnaround was at mile 3.4 and then we started our trek up a 2.1 mile hill. I counted my overall position at the turn around, and there were 5 men in front of me. I also timed my lead on the second female and it was about 1:20 so felt pretty secure. I ended up passing 4 men going up the long hill, which is surprising since I'm not at all good at hills. Perhaps the timing of it in the race and my marathon strength helped me there. My side ache went away going uphill, making me think I was doing something different with my form running downhill (really the only other times I've had side aches in races is running into headwinds, and I know it's because the wind changes my form). One of the men stayed with me for quite awhile when I passed him, which helped me power through the hill. We also started going through 5k runners from about mile 5 on, and as usual rapidly passing people gave a boost.

At 5.5 we finished the long hill then had a short downhill, during which my side ache returned. I actually didn't mind going back uphill to the finish because going uphill it again went away! I heard someone coming up on me as I neared the finish line, and it was the man who I'd run with for awhile on the long hill. I didn't make an effort to kick on the incline to the finish, so he ended up finishing ahead of me. I just didn't have it in me knowing I had 10 more miles to run and a solid female win. Maybe I'm getting wimpy!

I tried to smile here

While on the course I was thinking it'd be a miracle if I ran under 7:00 pace on that course in that weather, so I was happy enough when my watch told me I averaged 6:51 pace. My official time was 42:35. It is somewhat sad that my PR is over 6 minutes faster (i.e., over a minute per mile), even though 2017-2019 Sara would not have run anywhere near a PR on that course either. I finished ahead of a man I've run portions of several Bass Pro Marathons with (who also runs sub-3 at that race almost every year), which brought some comfort.

I jogged to my car to grab a drink and a gel, and to meet my friend Sally for 10 more miles. She wanted to sleep in later than the main group run that day and was kind enough to meet me after my race. I didn't feel like a million bucks on the rest of the run, but it wasn't awful either, and the company really helped. I ended up with 20.4 total miles and I was glad to get it in! I had a out-of-town wedding the day after the race and didn't want to leave the 20 for Sunday.

I'll probably only run this one again if I win another free entry, but the trophy was adorable and I am sure it was good for me!

Results are here.