This past weekend, Luke and I ran our first European 10K. Since Luke had to work this weekend, we didn't think that he'd be able to run or even go to the race with me. However, the day before he decided that he could wait until after the race and go in a little later. (That's the cool thing about working on Sundays. You don't have to be there by 9. ;)) Anyway, by the time he tried to officially sign up for the race, it was already full, but he was a champ and still got up early, went out in the cold and ran it with me. And I'm so glad he did. Going out there alone wouldn't have been as fun.
It was cold, only around 38 degrees, but sunny, clear and perfect running weather. The course started in Retiro, the big park near our apartment. It took us up one of the main streets, Paseo de la Castellana, before turning around and doing a large loop around Retiro, up a pretty good size hill near the 8K mark and back into the park to cross the finish line. I finished as number 1,564 out of 3,026 runners, with an average pace of 7:57 per mile according to my Garmin. I feel like I maybe could have run the first half a little harder but overall was really pleased with my results, and it was good to have some saved energy for the hill at the end and a strong push across the finish line.
The races here are a lot cheaper than in the states (Only 12 euros for this one!), and it was really cool to see our city quiet and empty on a beautiful Sunday morning. I'm definitely looking forward to more races in Madrid and maybe even some other European cities!
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| Ready to run. |
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| Crowds of people at the starting line. We crossed when the official clock was around 2 minutes. |
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| Post race party pic. |
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