Holyoke St. Pat's 10K (PB) -- Sat. March 21

My first time running this one, and I was very tense because I had no idea about where to register or park. That was symptomatic--the organization of the whole thing was haphazard at best and comically poor at worst. 3700 registered runners -- evidently they ran out of numbers and chips, as news reports gave 4000+ runners, amazingly. The registration was a melee, but not *too* bad: Savanna pointed me to the location, after I'd arrived and parked a bit of a way off from the evident crowd, on Dwight and Beech. Jogged to the start, then registered, jogged back to the car and then did a couple of miles warmup. Somewhat reluctantly stripped down to T-shirt and shorts: it was v. sunny, not cold, but a bit chilly in the wind. Headed to the start, stopping for a DnD hot chocolate (sampler size, nothing silly), and some water -- greeted a father/daughter from St Francis, but didn't see anyone else I knew. Then found my way to the start, but it was a mob scene: a line in the road and 3000+ people trying to stand by it. Ouf. I got somewhat close, but off to the side, and then we all waited nearly ten minutes without moving. Meh.

At least it started on time. I'd heard there wasn't much uphill after the beginning, but in fact after a fast first mile (first half of which was me trying to get room to move and see ahead of me) it became more or less uphill for all of miles 2, 3, 4, even a bit of 5. I caught up with Sri and a couple of others around mile 2, and finally got a sense of where I was, then started to chug ahead. Making 6:30s or better, which was very much my goal, and I hoped it would be safe from numbleg -- but alas, it wasn't. At about half way I was in the high 90s (guy counted off as we passed and I heard 97 as I went by), and I also saw Steve L who was out on his bike instead of running. Mile 4 I caught Mike L, and we both grinned: he fixed on my tail after that, and finished not far behind enfin.

Mile 5 was sub-6 (with some downhill), and that acceleration started the numbleg--as we started mile 6 I wondered how I could keep going, but somehow (Gott sei dank) it didn't go totally numb and the road was straight (corners are the worst on a dead leg). April's mum yelled a greeting as I passed, near the end of mile 6, as I was tussling with Doug G. who'd crept up on me as the leg went dead. I determined to stay with him or as close as I could, and I was *so* up for it, except for the leg. Ouf!

Then we turned (nearly fell!) for the last 0.2 miles to the finish and as another person surged by I pushed hard, but the stress was a bit much and I faded again, just concentrating on staying upright. *Just* managed to beat 40 minutes, to my great relief and considerable chagrin re the leg. Stumbled and went down, so chap rushed over to check on me. Saw one guy puking hard, and nearly joined him, but managed to keep it down.

Mike L and I traded congrats, and then I just wanted to get away. Got water and jogged off, then did a two mile plus cool down. Here's the official report: the time was from gun to mat, so not super accurate--but it's official.

Time: 39:55
Distance: 6.2 miles
Pace/Speed: 6:26s/9.32 mph

Comment: mixed blessing, to be sure. Came in 92nd (of 3705 registered runners) and 15/485 in my age-group. Next year, ah, next year...