This was the move that I did after crossing the finish line at the Golden Gallop 10k!

Results here

The Golden Gallop 10k was the first, in my three races in 25 hours weekend. I arrived in Golden at 7:20am and looked around. I noticed to the north of me was all downhill and to the south of me it was all uphill, I quickly concluded that this was not going to be a fast course, since the race went to the south and then to the north.

The race started 15 minutes late due to some racers who were still getting registered. The start and the finish were in separate locations, with the finish being at a slightly higher elevation. When the runners lined up at the start, I didn’t get the feeling that there was anyone fast in the field and that included me. At that point I decided to treat this race as a tempo run, as I wanted to have a good race at the 5k later that evening and I knew a fast time was not possible this morning.

The first mile is all downhill and I kept it under control, I hit the first mile in 6:24. At this point there were four other runners with me, but I was leading and I could hear the other three guys breathing rather hard. If I’m leading at the one mile, there is a good chance that I will win the race, because I am NEVER leading at the first mile of the race, as I usually go out pretty slow and under control. At the second mile there were one or two runners still pretty close but then the race started heading back uphill, I kept up a rather consistent pace, I think, but it was hard to tell because of how hilly the course was. At the third mile I was alone, with a good lead and just following the girl on the bike. I can tell you that I am not used to leading a race and it’s weird the thoughts that ran through my head, like what if I get passed with a half mile to go, etc.

Well I didn’t get passed and went on to win the race, in an incredible slow time of 40:48, 6:34 pace. The funny thing is my race pace for the 10 mile race that I did on Monday was 6:22. The course was probably one of the more difficult courses that I have done for a road race and it was on a concrete path the entire time. I finished the race and felt pretty good, still fresh, I was actually happy that I didn’t push myself that hard and probably ran most of the race at LT threshold.

For winning the race, I took home a $50 gift certificate to the Table Mountain Inn Restaurant in Golden. So that was pretty cool and if you’ve eaten there, let me know how it is.