“Raddest Race in the Baddest Place”

I ran my first 10k, YAAAAY! We had been planning this race for so long, when it finally came around I was extremely excited. Was the race really pretty? Yes! Did I train for this race? No! Was I hydrated enough? Nope!

We all woke up around 5:30 am, got dressed, ate some food, brushed our hair and teeth then left. My dad left 30 minutes before us at 6:30 to get to his starting point because he was doing the half marathon and my mom, sister and I were doing the 10k. We got on our shuttle at 7:00 and got to the starting point around 7:10.

 We did some warm ups, then at 8:00 we started! There were just under 120 runners in the 10k. My plan was to stay with my mom but, I just started and ended up in the middle; my sister was ahead of me and I was ahead of my mom. I passed a handful of people in the first mile. The trail was rocky and narrow, we all had to run in a single file line and the view was of big, grassy rolling hills. It was already really hot!

In the second mile I wanted to catch my sister and eventually did, but during that mile I realized that I hadn’t drunk any water that morning and I was really thirsty! I thought “well, the woman who talked to all the 10k runners said that there would be two water stations, thank goodness!” There was a big uphill so, Avery and I walked that and unfortunately she had a big headache but she still ran with me for a bit. I was ahead of her for about a half of a mile then she caught up. Finally, we saw the water station at mile 3; “at last” I thought. Avery and I both chugged two cups of water then kept running.

During mile three Avery and I were still running together. Near the end of mile three we talked to a woman for a little bit who was really nice. At mile four, I ran ahead. There was a lot of downhill so that mile wasn’t very hard. At mile six I got onto the pavement and remembered that the woman who talked to us said the second water station was at the start of the pavement! I ran, grabbed a cup, drank and drank and spilled half of it on my shirt! I picked up my pace from there. I saw the finish line and before it there was a man at the last turn who was cheering me on. I saw the crowd and sprinted towards the finish line! Hallelujah, I finished!

 A volunteer handed me my medal and I managed to puff out a quiet “thanks.” I found some water and not even a minute after me, Avery finished. She also rushed over to the water! Shortly after, my mom finished and she too grabbed a bottle of water. Then we all went to watch the 5k award ceremony. Just before my dad finished his race, they did the 10k award ceremony. Avery and I got 1st and 2nd out of two in our age group! After that my dad was at the last turn; we cheered him on until the finish! We hung around for a little bit after my dad finished, took some photos, drank lots more water, and then left. We slept amazing that night!