Jerusalem 10k Part 1

Its over.  My first race.  I ran the Jerusalem 10k and finished in an official time of 49:23.  Wow!  That is a 7:58 per mile pace.  This was a hilly race.  Here is how race day unfolded.

I woke up and ate my usual breakfast plus a banana before I left.  I kept my drinking to a minimum as I did not want to have to run to the bathroom during the race.  I knew I would drink during the race, so I was not worried. The race started at 10:30.  I wanted to give myself enough a time to get there with the traffic changes.  Since this was my first race I had no idea what to expect.

I boarded the 7:45am bus and as made our way into the city, we hit traffic.  I assumed that this would be the case, as the full marathon started at 7:00am and we were entering the city right about the halfway point of the race.  We sat in traffic for about 20 minutes as we inched forward to get on the bypass.  I had my IPOD on and turned on some oldies just to stay relaxed and calm.   I looked around; I did not see any other runners on the bus.

It started to lightly rain on our way in.  I was not ready for the rain.  I left my jacket at home.  We finally made it to the bus station around 8:50am.   It was about a 5-10 minute walk to get to the park for the bag check and pre-race activities.  After going through security, I looked down the hill into the park, there were big signs pointing to the bag check for each of the races. It was very organized.

I walked around to see what was going on.  They had some people teaching zumba or some other kind of aerobics for people to jump around on a trampoline.  They had free coffee.  I found where the restrooms were.  They had numerous restrooms.  I put my IPOD in my bag as I decided to run this race without music. I checked my bag in no time.  Very easy.  I now had over an hour to wait for my race to start.

They had giant screens showing the marathon. The leader was currently at 2:08.  I walked down to the marathon finish and watched the winner Abraham Kabeto finish in a new course record of 2:16.28.  Mazel Tov!!

I kept my legs fresh by walking back and forth around the park.   During this time, the sun kept peeking through the clouds.   I decided to leave my gloves and undershirt on and I took the ear warmers off. It was about 10:00 am. I made one last pit stop. Then I retied my shoes and tucked in my shirt.  I started to make my way to the starting gate.  I ate my piece of banana bread on the way.

The crowd started to get bigger the closer we got to the start area.  They divided the race into two groups.  There was an A and B group and a C group.  This was according to finishing times you predicted when you singed up.  I was in group B.  It was neat.  They had people checking bibs to make sure you started in your correct place.  I felt like a VIP trying to get backstage when I was allowed to enter the A & B Group.

I started getting very exciting and when the announcer said 5 minutes to go, I was ready. I had my game plan. I knew what I wanted to accomplish.  The clouds started to disappear and the sun started to shine.

Then the gun sounded to start the race.

Stayed tune for part two tomorrow.