On Saturday, August 17th, 2013, I ran the Washington Crossing 15K in Washington Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania right by the Delaware River. I had a FE there with 2 fourmites Jess (lilac_jive) who was running, and George (fourouta5) who was volunteering!!!!

Short Version: The course was lovely and I had a blast. I decided I wanted to aim for about 10:00 minute miles, which is not completely all-out for me but is faster than I have managed to run in any race distance above a 5K, and any run since May 5th. I ended up with a 1:34:25 (10:08 pace), and was very pleased with it.

Long Version:

Background/Training: Just had my one year "runniversary"... this was my 17th race in the past year. It was my first 15K. I did not train specifically for this race, but I am in the throes of a Running Wizard 20 week half marathon plan for my first HM which will be on October 12th. Prior to the race I had completed 6 training runs that were 9 or more miles, so I did not feel unprepared for the distance. I have never "raced" anything longer than a 10K, however, and 10Ks have a history of not going well for me (28:16 5K PR vs 1:04:45 10K PR, and that is not for lack of trying), so I was a bit nervous about my ability to sustain any pace faster than "easy" for a longer distance. So I decided to use this as a "fitness check" and attempt to pace a longer race and maybe make some mistakes to learn from before my half, such as going out too fast and blowing up or going out too slow and leaving time on the course, as well as get a feel for pacing longer distances since I have struggled with the 10K distance.

Pre-Race: Washington Crossing Historic Park is directly over the Delaware River from NJ (for those not familiar the Delaware River serves as the border between NJ and PA). The park is 20 miles from my parents' house in NJ. It was an evening race with a 5:00pm start time. I drove the hour drive from my apartment in Brooklyn to my parents' house that morning, hung out with my mom and dad, ate some food, played with my mom's puppy (isn't she cute?! This is Mia, an 8 month old Morkie which is a Maltese and Yorkshire Terrier mix):

I ate mostly carbs and protein (morning had a bagel with a little cream cheese and fresh lox that I picked up in Brooklyn on the way out (Brooklyn has the best bagels!), and at around 2:00pm had toast with peanut butter and sliced banana on top, which is my usual pre-race breakfast so I decided to stick with that even though it was an evening race). Around 3:15 I headed over to the race location. I parked, and started walking to the packet pickup and saw Jess (lilac_jive)--spotted her right away based on the super cute outfit she had described and pictures I had seen of her--and said hello!! She was there with a friend, who was very nice! Then I spotted George (fourouta5) because of the pirate flag he said he would be carrying. I met his wife and kids and we chatted for awhile. Such a nice man and nice family!!! We got a few FE pictures before George headed to the aid station he was volunteering at:

Me before heading to the start:

The Race: Washington Crossing Historic Park is in a very rural area with a lot of woods and farmland. Which is a 180 degree change from 90% of the races I've run, which have mostly been in NYC, with some in Baltimore and DC. The race was small, with 178 finishers (also different from what I am used to, most of my races have had thousands of my closest friends running too). The course was an out and back starting on an asphalt path but quickly turning into a dirt/packed shale/kind of gravelly towpath that ran along a canal and (for most of it) in between the canal and the Delaware River on the other side of it (beautiful!). The towpath was fairly narrow, room mostly for only single file, especially for the parts where people were running in the other direction. But they did a wave start, and with such a small field once everyone settled into their pace single file was perfect. The temperatures were in the mid-70s with low humidity and a decent breeze coming off the river, and temperatures cooled as the race went on. The towpath was very shady, and mostly flat. As George pointed out before the race to me, it seems very flat, and the elevation change is almost not detectable while running, but water does flow downhill and the course is very slightly uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back. He encouraged me to use it to my advantage and go slightly easier on the way out and pick it up on the way back with gravity on my side. Sounded like a plan to me!

The atmosphere of the race was also super casual (love it!). I asked a volunteer where bag check was, and he wasn't sure, so he asked the RD, who told me, "ummmm I was gonna put them in my trailer....that's kind of too full....hmm....let's just line them up along the fence here (by the start/finish), there will be volunteers around the whole time, should be safe." I am used to NYRR and other major race organization's rules, which have gotten stricter after Boston, where the bag has to be clear, have a sticker with your bib number on it, and runners are not even allowed in the bag check area, so this was a change! I liked the change though....I love how small and laid back the race was, and such a different type of location for me! I also liked that, for me, it felt more like an "actual race" since in huge events I rarely have a real concept of how many people I pass or pass me with all the weaving. In single file, passing people is deliberate and noticeable, and I can proudly say I passed a lot of people, most during the second half

Splits:
Mile 1: 9:28 (Always!!! Always run the first mile too fast!)
Mile 2: 10:27 (calf cramps uuugggh....I wanted to stop and stretch them so bad....but pushed on)
Mile 3: 10:28 (calf cramps continued. Finally at a water station I jumped to the side and stretched them for a few seconds while I drank my water)
Mile 4: 10:05 (I stopped noticing my calves so I guess at some point in this mile they finally loosened. Saw George and his family at the aid station that was right before/after the turnaround. He snapped a few pictures of me with his camera when I came back through after the turnaround [thanks George they are awesome!!! I like them better than any professional pics I've ever had, and he got a few floaters!] ):

Mile 5: 10:18 (I think maybe this was when I choked on my water at a water station and stopped for a few seconds to drink it and get my bearings....probably lost 10-15 seconds)
Mile 6: 9:56 (started passing several people this mile, slowly one at a time I'd catch up to someone, pass them, and try to make sure they didn't pass me right back)
Mile 7: 10:08 (held a comfortably hard pace and passed a few more people)
Mile 8: 10:05 (was starting to get really tired, was thankful that it wasn't a half...haha...and pushed onward and passed a few more people)
Mile 9: 9:56 (kicked it a little and tried to pass a few more people, and one woman who I had passed awhile ago passed me back)
Last .4 (long on Garmin): 3:36 (passed the woman who had passed me back again, and then up running right behind Jess's friend who had been ahead of me the whole race. Passed her in the last .1 and couldn't decide if I should feel bad about it or be happy....she didn't seem too upset)

Garmin time: 1:34:27

Official time: 1:34:25

Pros got a few pics too:

Got my first finisher's medal from this race! YAY BLING!!!

Me, Jess, and her friend after the race with our medals:

Overall very happy with my performance. Averaged 10:03 according to Garmin and 10:08 according to official results. Which was pretty much right where I wanted to be. I passed a lot of people, which was fun, and nobody passed me in the last half of the race who I didn't pass back (that one woman). I was happy with the race I ran, managed a slight negative split. I was also happy to realize that miles 0-6.2 was an unofficial 10K PR, and miles 3.1-9.3 was another unofficial 10K PR. I thought the race was well managed, and the course was very  ice.....overall quite flat, soft surface, nice scenery with the creek on one side of the trail and the river on the other. They had a nice spread of free food at the end, too: burgers, potato salad, pasta salad and chips.

Yum, food:

The swag was AWESOME, tech shirt, backpack, and SWEET medal (not that I have anything to compare it to, though, as I said it was my first finisher's medal ever from a race!):

  And the best part was meeting George and Jess, both so nice(!!!) as well as Geroge's family and Jess's friend!!!

Thanks for reading!

Sounds like a great time, Kristin!  Congrats on your longest race and first medal.  Love the pics.  That looks like a nice course.

I do love the laid back atmosphere of the smaller races.  I've been able to just chuck my jacket or sweatshirt on the side of the road near the start then go retrieve it after the race.

I was going to ask why George would be carrying a pirate flag, but then I thought "well why wouldn't he be carrying a pirate flag?"

Nice run, Kristin. I always enjoy your RRs... lots of good pictures and more importantly, it looks and sounds like you truly enjoy it!!  Also, cool medal.

That looks like a lovely race.  Thanks for the race report.  Congratulations on running so consistently.

Very nice report, Kristin!   This race had it all...an FE for you; Great Legs X 3 (you, lilac, and her friend), a really scenic course right alongside the water, very nice - I'd be afraid I'd fall in, lol, being that close to the water - and what great bibs, and a very unique medal, very cool bling!  Congrats on your race and on your pace too.  You did great!

I'd love to run this route sometime, if they had a shorter version, 15K is a bit far for me. No associated 5K event with this one?

Quick question.  Did you do any kind of warm up?  If not, that may well account for the cramps.

Can't wait to see what you do for your 2nd runniversary, Kristin.  Nice report and race.

What a nice, nice report!  Love the metal you won.  Congratulations on your nice time with the 10k PR time in it.  Lovely that you got to meet lilac and fourouta5.  Love the pictures-- and Mia is adorable.  So weird seeing you in such a rural setting, but boy, it makes such a beautiful background.

You don't win a metal.  You win a medal.  (This is what happens when you grade papers every day).