Christmas Caper 10K

This morning I joined my original running buddy J__, his partner J__, and her sister S__ for a 10K at Hains Point in DC.  The weather was 55 degrees and partly sunny and there was the usual light breeze coming off of the river at the tip of Hains Point.

Same race, different year with cooler weather!

As of several years ago the Park Service has closed the Hains Point cross street to racing, so this race -- which used to be two trips around the three-mile Hains Point loop -- involved twice out-and-back around the point and halfway back on the opposite side before turning.  That made it fun as I saw J, J, and S three times as we crossed paths.

I showed up planning to run with J__.  Somewhere we got our signals crossed and I was running alone.  I noticed the race leaders were not miles off the front immediately so I moved up in the pack slightly to get a closer look.  After about a mile I found myself running third and held that position until the half-way point turn-around, when a college-age woman passed me like I was standing still.  She easily held on for third overall, but two more runners passed me in the last mile, as I suffered the embarrassment of having paced really badly.  

Upside of getting older?  6th place was good enough for first in the 40-49 age group.  I won a supersize Peppermint Bark candy bar!  As much fun as this was I may be looking for a 5K next weekend in the outskirts of Houston.