Race Report: Cherry Tree 10 Miler

Results
Chip time: 1:22:46
Overall place: 360
Gender place: 101
Division place: 12

I've been looking forward to the Cherry Tree 10 Miler, organized by Prospect Park Track Club. I had some rough races at the end of 2011, including PPTC's Turkey Trot which was only 5 miles but ended up being very aptly named for me. Before the Cherry Tree I was curious to see how much stronger I've become from Two Oceans training.

I don't want to say anything bad about the PPTC or Jack Rabbit (the local running shop) races because I am so happy they are organizing Brooklyn races, walking distance from my apartment. These races are smaller than the ones by New York Road Runners, and getting 12th place in your age group sounds  a lot better than getting 3012th. But if I had one complaint it would be not having bagels right there at the finish area, handed to me like a delicious gluten-filled trophy by a smiling volunteer who says, "Congratulations!" They did have some refreshments but they were at a high school a mile from the finish area, in the opposite direction of where I needed to go to put my pajamas on. That's all. Done complaining.

The 10 mile races in Prospect Park are three loops around the park. It's not an easy run because there is "the hill" in the park that is long and challenging, and this means it has to be run up three times. But the park is really beautiful and if you're lucky you'll get to see ducks and horses along the route. If you're unlucky you'll get cussed out by a biker with road rage.

I got a ride to the race from a friend and arrived nice and early. I started out kinda slow today with what felt like a million people passing me, but at the 7th mile I started to feel high and unstoppable (maybe this is one of the reasons I'm a long distance runner and not a sprinter). The finish line was after a downward slope that curved left into a side road and I felt like my legs were moving on their own and I was flying. I could see the clock at the finish line reading 1:22: 50, so I kicked it up a notch to get under 23 minutes. My chip time (the chip runners wear to record their official results) was 1:22:46 (8:17 pace). I came in 360th place out of 867 finishers. Or 12th place in my division.

Also, I had on new pants because yesterday my cat ate almost an entire sock (if he was a human being he'd be a pack a day smoker) and then threw up on my running pants. When he gets really sick like this (or hungover) I have to force feed him water through a baby syringe. Fun times.