Pittsburgh Great Race 10K- Recap

This is from the Race that took place on September 24th. I'm behind on recaps.... I know what you are thinking "Sit still and write your recaps chica!"

But I hope you know that, I have a hard time sitting still.

I am a sucker for a great price on a race! Last year a local running friend put it on FB that Registration for the Great Race for $15 on December 31st ! I put it on my calendar and signed up for me and Roger. He didn't appreciate it very much when I reminded him the week before... but it's not my fault he didn't remember.

Race Details
Cost : $15 (Registered in December 31st).
Goodies: Woman's cut, long sleeve tech shirt, in black! I love all of this shirt!
Post race treats: oranges, bananas, Eat and Park cookies, and anniversary medal.
Conditions: Started at 65 C with humidity. Finished at 80 with LOTS of humidity.

Pre Race
Pittsburgh is such a great city, Why do I live so far from it?

We took a shuttle to get to the start line, this was a first for us! It took about 30 minutes to get there, which made Roger nervous... he asked why did it take so long to go 6 miles... I don't know why it took so long!

The line for the shuttle bus

 

Because it was going to be a warm day, we spent the morning drinking water, so the wait for the race to start was spent going to the bathroom and waiting in line to go again before the race.

 

 

 

There were a LOT of people! The website said their capacity was 11 thousand people! So when the gun went off, it took about 8 to 10 minutes to cross the star line.

The day was to be a hot day, and sunny. I knew that there was no chance to beat my time, but I gave myself the goal to finish the race under 1 hour.

Race

First .25 of the race was a slight uphill, that took all my breath! Roger tried to keep pace with me, and he did for about 1 mile. After that, I lost him.

I was impressed that there was course entertainment and at the cheering crown through most of the race.

I felt ok for the first half of the race and was going at what felt like an easy pace. But by mile 3, I was really hot and the sun was killing my spirit. I took a short walking break and got some water.

Do you ever see any runners wearing long sleeves, and long leggings at races and think "How are they not dying under all those clothes?" There were a lot of those at Pittsburgh!

The streets were entirely closed during the race, and the water stations were only on the right side, so I missed the first water stop and the third. I also missed the open water sprinkler.
 
The uphill of mile 4 killed me! It was directly under the blazing sun, and my body was not having it! I lost momentum, I lost pace, and lost a lot of sweat going up that hill. But I went up it!

I crossed the finish line at 58.55, not my best, but also not my worst and still under 1 hour!

I collected my medal, a cold wet towel and went to look for Roger.

Post Race
After I found him, we ran into Jeff, our River Runner Harrisburg friend and went for pictures with the group at the fountain.

 

 

After the pictures, we went to the tents and got lots of water, and I got all the cookies I could grab from the Eat and Park tent.... yes, I am THAT person!

 
We had a great time in Pittsburgh, and we are considering going for the Half Marathon next may.