Capitol 10K
March 28th, 2004
The Good, The Bad, and The Humid.
The Good
The race itself was nice. I actually enjoyed the crowds since I wasn’t shooting for any particular time. The course was a bit nasty around the 2-mile mark with a constant uphill that seemed it would never end. Beyond that, it was some gently rolling hills and then mostly flat to the finish. I was pushing myself the whole way and got a bit heated at the end, so much that I almost puked. I pulled back on the reigns and coasted into the finish. I saw a lot of people I’ve known from the past that I didn’t realize still lived in Austin. At the beginning of the race, I chatted with a woman who participated in the very first Capitol 10K.
The Bad
Packet pickup was an absolute nightmare. I went to try and get my packet on Saturday but the line appeared to be 45 minutes or longer. I have never seen a line this long to pick up a damned packet. I could have probably done late registration and gotten out of there quicker. So I returned later in the afternoon only to wait 25 minutes to get my packet. When I reached the front of the line, I discovered they had my timing chip information wacked up and they were also out of the shirt size I’d listed on my pre-registration. I was very unimpressed with the entire pre-race organization. Pathetic. This reminds me why I now run more trails.
The Humid
The weather could have been a touch drier with more of a breeze but the temperature was pretty nice.
Oh yeah, lots of people were clunked out on their backs in the grass on the sides of the race course being attended to by medical staff. Several of my friends were wondering what was going on as they noticed it, too? I’ve never seen this many medical emergencies at a relatively short event.