At last..

~44:29~
at the Kids Alive International Third Annual Turkey Trot 10K Run

This was a pretty good race. Weather was beautiful, and the course was somewhat scenic. Once again, I seem to have left the house way too late. This was my last chance to run under 45 minutes in 2006, since it was the only 10K left this year in the immediate Chicago area (if you consider Valparaiso a suburb of Chicago). I Google mapped it and took the back way in, past some impressive looking mansions. Where is everybody? I drive toward the high school entrance and start to see signs of life - runners doing some short sprints, stretching, etc. Some have their bib numbers already on and are heading to their cars to put away their goodies. Inside, it's quite warm. I head into the gym and get my bib number, briefly chatting with the guy handing out the t-shirts. This is the best year yet for the Kids Alive 10K, with over 400 partcipants. I have time to do all my stretches for once, then head to the start which is thoroughly unmarked, just a couple of cones as a rough guide. Before the race, one of the charity leaders from Sudan says a brief prayer, which sounds quite impressive. And a few seconds later, we're off! The race starts with a slight uphill, then an extreme downhill (which is bound to turn into an uphill later, and it does). The race seems to be a nice loop with some staggered turns through some quiet neighborhoods, and flattens out some toward the end. I'm feeling pretty good, watching my heart monitor and lap times. I think I may actually make my goal! They did make some last minute course adjustments, so I'm hoping I can gauge my kick properly. The six-mile mark comes up really fast! I manage to conjure up some reserves toward the end of the race and come in around 44:30 (official time). My chrono said 44:29, so that's what I'm going with. The mile time was 7:10, pretty decent for an old guy. After the race, I talk with the Sudanese man, whose name is Francis. He is visiting for 10 days, and says he has friends in Chicago, a "very beautiful city. No other city like it". I have to agree with him. He shows me the kids he is sponsoring back in his country in one of the brochures for Kids Alive. The coffee and donuts after the race are like heaven. I stick around to watch the awards (I came in 9th in my age group, 50th overall out of 440). They were giving pumpkin pies for some of the prizes. And did I mention the weather? An amazingly wonderful 55 degrees! I drive out of town with the windows and roof open, pawing at the warm air, replaying the race in my head.