Run for the Cookies 10K Day

Late Friday afternoon, on February 26th, it became evident the snowfall accumulation forecasted for our area was not going to materialize. I wanted to run this race because I had trained a significant amount for this race. Another reason I wanted to run this race was to achieve a much better personal record for ten kilometers. My old PR of 59 minutes and 35 seconds was abysmal.

Yet another reason I wanted to run is there were a few 10K races I was contemplating entering which employed starting corrals based upon your historical 10K performances. My current 10K PR time was only good enough for the caboose corral.

Berwick PA is an easy drive - follow Route 81 north and this blue collar town is about thirty minutes west of the Hazleton exit. I arrived about ninety minutes early and easily found the race headquarters within the local Elks lodge. The day was off to a good start as I had no pre-race drama relating to finding the town or race site.

The race had a good turnout for a cold day in late February, probably in excess of two hundred runners. A ten kilometer race does not contain any substantial amount of running newbies. The majority of runners present were veteran runners looking for a workout.

While standing at the starting line waiting for the run to begin I had the misfortune of standing next to a woman who bounced up and down in place, as if she were on an imaginary pogo stick for about five minutes leading up to the race. I believe she was attempting to stay warm. A quick scan across the crowd of runners revealed she was the only person employing this method to keep warm.

Once the starting gun went off I rocketed out the first quarter mile in one minute forty-six seconds, a full twenty seconds faster than the 2:06 pace I aspired to average for the race. Fortunately I saw my first split on my Garmin GPS watch and slowed my pace accordingly.

The course was unique because we had to scale a hill the size of Mt. Killimanjaro at the half-way turnaround point. I have never run a hill so steep and long. Running up a large hill followed by running down the same hill should result in an equitable result. My splits were slowed by the uphill trek more so than the speed gained by running downhill. You have to hold back slightly on the hill's descent to avoid sprinting at a 100 meter dash rate.

Aside of the Mt. Killimanjaro turnaround point I had a great race, breaking the 52 minute mark. I had set a goal of 52 minutes and 30 seconds prior to the race. I finished after the seasoned runners but before the less seasoned runners, probably in the vicinity of the 50% mark.