This was a cold one! Historically this has been a chilly start, and 2024 was no different. It was in the mid-20s on race morning and the event organizers even had indoor spaces + space heaters placed around the start/finish area to help combat the freezing temps for participants. I definitely bundled up more than typical for a fast race, but it was necessary. We had a great group of Milliken runners for the corporate shield team, too.
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| Lots of cold little Milli-runners! |
I did about a mile warmup jog to get from the car to the start line. Wasn't planning on going for a super fast time so wasn't overly concerned with getting super warmed up, just enough to get the legs moving.
The first mile took us from the Peace Center over to Unity Park. This was my slowest mile of the race since I was just getting warmed up really. Felt OK but knew it wasn't going to be a PR day.
Mile 1 = 7:20
Got to Unity Park and knew it was going to just be a big loop up one side and down the other (kind of) - this part was at least flat, but felt very long going all the way through the park on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. This year's course is very different from the course in the past that had stayed the same for many many years.
Mile 2 = 7:08
Last mile had a little bit of climbing, but I'd studied the course map enough to know what was coming. It was really just the climb from the trail up River Street to get to Main that was a kicker, and I knew once I turned onto Main Street it was time for the final push (downhill!) to the finish.
Mile 3 = 7:13
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| Finish line! |
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| Age group award! |
We stood around in the freezing cold, finding as much sunshine as possible, and the team collected several age-group and team awards. We gathered for a team brunch at Coffee Underground after the race which was super fun!
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