I Ran a 10K

Another event that was delayed.

After running the 5k in 2019, my friend and I had the crazy idea to run The Strip at Night in Las Vegas. We did not go completely crazy and opted for the 10K race, not anything longer and signed up for the October 2020 event. As we all know what the last two years has brought, you will not be surprised that the event did not take place. Even though there was never any indication when the event would be rescheduled, there were no refunds offered as the event had not been cancelled. This policy has been very unpopular with participants and (according to comments) had put them off the Ironman organization. This was not helped by the complete silence from the organization about the event. I also know this was a policy for concert promoters.

I decided to train as if I was going to run the race at the end of 2020 and finally ran for 10 kilometers on 31 December 2020. I had been putting off this long until I finally told myself I HAD to do it before year end. It was hard to know what to do next when I had two races of different length but no dates to aim for.

At last we were given dates for races and after running the 5K I started to train for the 10K. And it did take place. With all the changes in numbers of virus cases and variants I would not have been surprised by any cancellation.

Taking part in the race was amazing. The strip was completely closed down and there are spectators on both sides of the road and on the bridges. (The only part where there were not any spectators was after the start of the race as you are running away from the finish.) It really felt good having people cheer you on. The part that is not so fun is people walking and blocking the middle of the road so you have to run around them. I would have liked to complete this in an hour instead it was 1 hour and 3 minutes, which I know I shouldn’t complain about. When I finished the 5K in San Diego I was really hungry and wanted coffee. When I finished this race I wasn’t very hungry and was starting to feel cold so we just went back to the hotel and had a shower and small meal.

It was a great experience and I am glad that I did it unfortunately my friend did not join me in the end.

Here I am at the end of the race laden down with all the goodies you get for finishing.