Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k Race Report

So I ran the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k this past Saturday and had a blast.  For the first time EVER, we had four out of six members of my family running!  Of course, my trusty running partner (my dad) was there, as well as my two brothers, Jeremy and Sean. 

Jeremy loves to run!

We all drove down Friday night and stayed in a hotel and that was the best idea EVER.  For the Maymont 8-miler, I drove down to Richmond that morning and I was very tired to say the least.  The weather in Richmond was pretty crapolicious; it was cold and rainy.  There were about forty thousand runners so waiting to get across the start line was the most miserable part of all. 

All smiles before standing in the rain

Everyone in my group actually got to the race about 45 minutes late but there were still waves crossing the start line so we jumped in and were able to start running within fifteen minutes.  Of course, as with all large races, it was very crowded and slow going for the first quarter mile or so.  The race was down Monument Avenue and they shut down the entire road for the event so there was plenty of room for running once it cleared out a bit.  There were plenty of port o' potties along the course and plenty of water and powerade too. 
So let's be honest for a moment.  I have not been running like I should have been to meet my goal of 59 minutes for this 10k.  In fact, as of the morning of that run, my revised goal was to finish the race without walking any part of it.  Well, I was successful in not walking it and it was pretty easy to keep my mind off of how much I wanted to die by listening to the bands and spectators cheering us on along the way.  That has to be my favorite part of this run.  There are so many great groups that come out to cheer on the runners and it is a really fun atmosphere. 

Even though I didn't make my original goal time, I did finish the race with an overall 9:45 minute/mile.   I was kind of excited about that until I realized that I finished one second after my finish time for the Turkey Trot 10k I ran last November.  One second??  Ugh.  Oh well, I guess I can still bask in the glory of beating my dad and my two brothers :)

Have you ever missed a PR by one second?