Race Report: Atlanta 10 Miler

Stats/Goals

Distance: 10 miles (1 mile Conquer Cardiac Challenge)
Location: Atlantic Station, Atlanta, GA
Current PR: 1:23:54 (10/26/2014, Atlanta 10 Miler)  7:02 (10/26/2014, Cardiac Split)
90% Goal: 7:00 on Cardiac Challenge (beat last year's time)
50% Goal: Get in Top 100 again
10% Goal: 6:30 on Cardiac Challenge

Result: 1:23:51 (http://tinyurl.com/q3qkcwz)
Mile Splits:
8:46
8:51
8:33
8:37
8:47
8:41
7:05
9:14
7:58
[Missed last mile, watch only clocked 9.95]

Cardiac Split:
6:29

Summary

The Atlanta 10 Miler may be giving Run Around the Park a run for its money on the title of "Favorite Race in Atlanta".  I had a blast running with a small group of friends at a relaxed pace for 6 miles, focusing up and powering up Cardiac Hill as fast as possible, and then cruising in to finish.

Race Prep

Last year, the 10 Miler started a "Cardiac Challenge" where, within the race, they timed participants up the iconic hill going up Peachtree Road (also featured on the Peachtree Road Race).  The catch is this is one of the hilliest courses they could think of and the Challenge doesn't come until about 6.5 miles in.

Instead of racing the 10 Miler last year, I started off easy with Angelina and one of her friends and ran my guts out on Cardiac hill.  For finishing in the top 100, I was rewarded an awesome beer mug:

#carbup

I wanted to do something similar again this year.  I polled the Run Leads and assembled a little band of "engines-that-could".  We would meet up at the training tent, line up at the front of Wave C, and run at a high 8/low 9 minute pace until we got to the hill and then fly up as fast as we could.

C is for CARDIAC CHALLENGE

Race

We had zero pre-race issues.  We got there super early, so parking wasn't an issue.  The training tent was super easy to find and everyone showed up.

Meanwhile, Operation Cardiac was in full swing.  We went out a little faster than our initial plan, but not a whole lot (we were closer to 8:30 than the 8:45 I was shooting for).

For the most part during races, I'm used to hearing labored breathing and footfalls with the occasional cheer from a spectator or volunteer directing me to water or Powerade.  This was not one of those races.  The seven of us spent the whole first hour cutting up, making awful jokes, innuendos about Ikea's meatballs, and discussing the proper pronunciation of root beer (seriously, does "root" rhyme with "shoot" or "shut"?  The answer seems pretty easy to me...)  Some even had the audacity to question the dominance of Clemson Football.

Around the 4 mile mark, there's a very steep downhill and I absolutely love running down steep hills as fast as I can.  Unfortunately, this one left me with a couple flat tires at the bottom.  The upper on both shoes tore on the outside near my pinkie toes.  They were still serviceable for the rest of the race, but they're probably ready to be retired now.

Does anyone have AAA?

I picked up my pace about a half mile out from the actual hill, which separated me from the group for the challenge.  Some of them had struck up a conversation with some others from Minnesota, and I knew I needed a few minutes at a medium pace before pushing a mile uphill.

It would have been fun crossing the start at the same time and having a true race up the hill.  I probably would have been able to push a little harder with them right around me, but it would have also caused some logistical issues with having to weave around those taking the hill at a more reasonable pace.

The first few hundred yards of the hill were flat, so it's a good spot to bank a little time.  This year, they had markers at all of the quarters going up the hill, so it was easier to keep track of my progress.  They also had cheering groups all along Peachtree up that hill.  The only thing I'd change about the course is they had a water stop about 100 yards before the end of the hill.  I'd much rather put that 100 yards AFTER the hill so you didn't have to backtrack to get to it.

The group caught up and we exchanged time estimates.  I had hit my lap timer a little late at the start (missed 15-20 seconds) and had timed 6:07 up the rest of the hill.  Everyone else was in the same general range, so we weren't sure at all who had won.

After the hill, the group broke up a bit.  I decided that, just in case I hadn't won the race up the hill, I would at least win the race to the finish line, so I pumped back up to a 7ish pace for the last couple miles.

Post Race

Angelina finished with her "Bump Support Group."  As she crossed the finish line, she finished her 1000th mile run since getting pregnant this past March.  So proud of her.

Bump the jams bump it up, while your feet is runnin'

Eventually, we figured out how to access the race results on our phones.  Three of us managed to finish within ONE SECOND of each other (I had edged them out 6:29 to 6:30).  The top 100 cutoff last year was 7:22, and I had assumed it would get faster, but it got pushed all the way down to 6:48.  The group did great, five finishing in the top 100 and the other two missing by seconds.

Brad, below, DOES get a good amount of bragging rights for having just come off of a half marathon the week before and Ragnar Tennessee the night before.  Bradley Bling, fo' sho'.

Agony of Defeat

Thrill of Victory

 Conclusion

If we keep doing this, the 10 Miler will easily replace Run Around the Park as my favorite ATC event.  I had a great time running with my friends enjoying the city and still got to be hyper-competitive with them, if only for a fleeting 7 minutes.