Although I've never ran the Enterprise 10K before, I knew that it was an extremely fast course due to the course layout (I had ran a high school xc race there that was nearly all downhill back in the day). Not being a fan of fast downhill races, I dismissed the idea of running this race. Friday evening I realized that the course had changed from previous years, making it a much more honest course, and with the cheap entry fee (16 bucks!) my dad and I decided to get up at 4:30 and head for the hills.
I jogged about 4 miles from the finish line to just past the starting line and my legs felt D.E.A.D. Just like the last 3 days, it was much hotter than I'm used to and my mouth was terribly dry. So it goes in Southern Utah in July! You guys that run here are warriors for putting up with the heat each day. Give me Oregon's 45-55 degree mornings year round anyday!
As for the start--I've met/talked with Dave Holt once or twice is all, but I'm not sure Clyde and I have ever officially met outside of this blog. At first I thought about trying to lay low to throw these guys off but I also didn't want to look like a complete wanker. My cover was blown when Clyde saw me and we talked for a bit before the gun went. ;-)
The 'gun' went off and it was Clyde, Dave and I running as a group through the first half mile or so before it was just Dave and I. The course was great--even better than I expected. The first 2 miles were very slight downhill with a few rollers mixed in for good measure. Dave and I chit-chatted down the course making pretty good time in the process. First 1.2 in 6:20 (5:16 pace) and second mile in 5:17. We had to dodge a few 5k'ers but it wasn't too bad at all, really. The next 2 miles were flat as can be with only 2 turns involved. For some reason Dave and I got a little sloppy on mile 3 (5:28) and then after making a couple easy turns hit mile 4 in 5:16. It was somewhere in here that Dave and I seperated a bit but I was sure it wasn't by much.
With Dave close behind I wanted to continue to run strong/even paced miles to the finish and if needed, have some fight left before the finish. Mile 5 was a very slight uphill (5:17) and then an equally slight downhill to the finish. Again, I figured Dave was right on my tail so I picked it up just a bit for a final mile in 5:07. Total time: 32:48, just 21 seconds off my P.R.
The course was very fair, very honest.--an anomaly for this state/region. Although there is a slight downhill, the rollers and elevation balance it out for a solid course. Anyway, I quickly grabbed some water and then headed back up the course to find my dad and finish the race with him. Ran a bit with him and then cooled down a bit with Dave and Clyde as well before heading back for the awards. Had a lot of fun today and it made me want to possibly return for an October marathon. We'll see... | 