In my catch-up post a week or so ago, I mentioned that I didn’t camp out with Adam and the kids at the last Cub Scout camp out because I had a race Saturday morning, the 210W Challenge in St. Augustine. I probably could have camped out, but the idea of sleeping in a tent and then getting up to run the next morning was just not at all appealing to me.
Since Adam was camping with the Cub Scouts and my regular running buddies had other plans for the weekend, I was on my own for this race. I did run into a friend of mine and her husband before the race, but they were off to do their warm-up while I went to stash stuff in my car and I didn’t see them again.
The race was great – Ultimate Racing offered both a 10K and 5K option. The beginning of the races followed the same route, so the 10Kers were sent off first, followed by the 5Kers about ten minutes later.
The race started near the Club House of the St. John’s Golf & Country Club, looped through the neighborhood, then ended in a field behind the Club House. It started early enough that the heat and humidity really wasn’t an issue and while it definitely had a race feel and you were never alone, the course was far from crowded. It was well marked and there were two water stops.
This is the first race in a long time where I felt good the entire time. I haven’t talked about the training I’ve been doing much lately, but I am trying something new (I wasn’t getting anywhere, except frustrated, running the 5/1 or 5/:30 intervals) and it’s working for me. I’ll talk more about it in another post, but I definitely think that’s what made this race so much more enjoyable for me.
My official finish time was 32:42.6 with splits 10:16, 11:03, and11:00 splits (you can see all the details on Strava). As soon as I finished, I was given a medal and a bottle of water. How gorgeous are those medals?! If you’re a medal junkie, you definitely need to do an Ultimate Racing event. They do not disappoint! Plus, you get free race pictures, too! Not many races offer that these days – I feel like I get nickel and dimed with races sometimes – upgrade to the VIP tent for food afterward! – only $50 for all of your race pics! – you know the drill. It starts adding up really quickly!
In the finish area, there were several tents set up with vendors, along with free donuts from Dunkin Donuts, Natalie’s juice (I love their Strawberry Lemonade!), and P.D.Q. was there with water and maybe chicken? I’m actually not sure on that one. I didn’t get to hang around the finish area for more than a few minutes to stretch since I had to get back to the camp out. I was in charge of delivering coffee and if you know me, you know that is a job that I take seriously.
The next Ultimate Racing event is actually for the little ones and I am so excited about it! The Subway Kids Run Jax series is a real, timed race, with bibs and t-shirts and age group awards, for the kids! I’m a little bummed that Kenz is too young to run it this year (she could pass for 4 though, right..?!) but Braden is excited to run the half mile race! If you are local, you should definitely check it out!
Disclosure: As an Ultimate Racing Brand Ambassador, I receive a free entry into their races plus one to give away. I gave my extra freebie to a friend of mine since Adam couldn’t run. As always, all opinions are my own!
Free race pictures are a huge sell for me.
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