My First 10K

I ran my very first 10K this past weekend at The Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC. What a great race pick for my very first!! Charleston is a wonderful city to begin with, but add the excitement of a race, and it is fantastic.

I was nervous for the race. I wasn't sure how my body would handle the distance or how I would feel. I guess my nerves got to my immune system. By Friday night, I had a full blown head cold. When we got up at 5:15 am (that is not a typo!), I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk 10 feet, let alone run 6.4 miles. I figured that we went all the way to SC just for this race, so I had better get up. We walked the few blocks from our hotel to the shuttle site, and I felt better just being outside. We had to get in line no later than 6:00 am to take the bus to Mount Pleasant where the race would begin. We arrived with plenty of time before the 8:00 am start. I had never seen or experienced anything like this race.

Bill and I started together, but I ran while Bill walked (he is still nursing a hip injury). There were so many people at the race, it took about 9 minutes to get from where we stood to the starting line after the gun went off. We went about 2 miles before hitting the bridge, then ran about 2 miles along the bridge 160 feet over the water. After the bridge, we headed into downtown Charleston where we made a loop to the finish while enjoying the cheers of the spectators. I have never been in a race where it was wall-to-wall people the whole time I was running. Little did I know at the time that I was moving with 29,245 other people.

I stopped 3 times for walk breaks, but felt pretty good considering the head cold and the lack of sleep. I finished just over my goal time at 1:22:18. I was the 8,991 female to finish the race (and I got my name in the local paper!) and the 18,963 finisher overall. Bill was walking really fast as he finished in 1:28:54. I am shocked to say that I actually liked that distance, and look forward to running more 10K races. I hope I am not sick for the next one!!