Monument Avenue 10k

Yesterday I ran my first race ever. With only about 37,000 other people. And a temperature in the 30s.

But it was great! I've been around Richmond for a few years now, but I've never even gone to watch the Monument Avenue 10k. So not only was it my first run, but it was my first time seeing all the costumes, bands, cheerleaders, and friendly spectators. I really made an effort to enjoy the race, so I said things to myself like "look at that adorable bulldog on the sidewalk!" or "I'm so happy there is a string band playing on that porch!" or "hello Uncle Stonewall!" when I passed the Stonewall Jackson monument.


Check out the running dinosaur shirts Josh and I painted!


Celebrating with a post-run beer at Capital Ale House

My goal was to finish in less that 60 minutes, which I did (just barely). However, the crowd was so huge in the beginning (I heard there were 1,500 in my wave) that I didn't make a serious effort to zoom around people and get ahead, I just went with the flow. Now that I've seen my results and I know I came in around 10,200th place (which, hey, was still in the top third), I'm itching to try again and do better.