My time for the Mechelen 10K was 57:09, run at an average pace of 5:57 per kilometer. It would have been a PR...except for the fact that the course was only 9.6 kilometers!!! I have to admit, I am kind of annoyed by this. I was doing well and was all set up for a 10K PR. In spite of the rain and the crowded course we kept up a good steady fast pace. Only to find out that the course was short!
I was grumpy to start with because we left on time but got stuck in a traffic jam around the city of Mechelen and arrived at the parking lot with just 15 minutes to spare - and we still had to figure out where we had to pick up our race bibs and chips and hope we would still have time for a bathroom stop (thankfully we did). That stress must have helped a bit to get my adrenaline going, because once we finally got over the starting mats we were off at a fast clip. As we passed the markers for each kilometer, I noticed on my Garmin that they were all off - always 100 or 200 meters too short.
It was a neat course and it would have been fun to run in nice weather - it was mostly along the Dijle river through farm fields. But it was raining pretty much the whole time - at least it wasn't windy or cold. The last few kilometers of the course wind you through the center of Mechelen, to finish on the big market square where the St Rombouts Cathedral is located:
After the finish, we got some sports drink, some water and then wandered around trying to find out where the shuttle bus was to take us back to the sports hall where the race started. We also passed by a bakery that was open and I couldn't resist posing for a picture in front of their cute display for Mom (she loves bakeries) - Stefaan couldn't resist going inside to buy some cake for the boys and a couple of pastries for himself (he did share a bite with me but pastries aren't really my thing - I was longing for my banana waiting for me in the car).
We finally got back and made it home in spite of numerous traffic jams - what is the deal with traffic on Sundays? It took us nearly an hour to drive 27 kilometers!
I don't know if I would do Mechelen again - it's complicated to get to, not so well organised and the darn course is SHORT! Next fall I'm going to try Hasselt - which is in Limburg, the one Flemish province I haven't done a race in yet.
12 comments:
Glad you ran, sorry it wasn't a 10K. That happened here at one of the local races, everyone thought they had great times until they found out.
I would have gone in the bakery with Stefaan.
Maybe I'll join you in Hasselt next year, that's not to far from me.
Amy you did great, that time for 9.6K is fantastic. Well done!
But I understand you're annoyed. One of the last races I did wasn't the exact distance either and I really don't like that.
It seems everybody is going out on Sundays because we often have traffic jams on Sunday too.
Again well done girl, be proud of your result, you did great.
Okay, Fran - that would be great!
Are you sure it is short by physical measurement? If it is a sanctioned race, then it needs to be 10K. Sometimes the garmin can be a little inaccurate.
NOT IN TO PASTRIES?!?! Crazy! LOL. Just kidding.
Wow, you did great! I would be upset the course was short too. Usually, they are long!
Garmin can be quite inaccurate and heavy cloud cover sometimes interferes with how it reads the satellites. So maybe you PR-ed after all?
Still, if the race was not well organized, no reason to support it in the future.
I would be frustrated too with a short course however every race I've ran has been longer!
It's a real pity that the race was not so well organised. Good luck on your next Limburg race Amy!
How frustrating...but, that's still a great time :)
I would be (and have been) annoyed when the course is short or long!
I would not have been able to resist the pastries. They ARE my thing. Love the pic for your mom.
Great job - your time looks quite good!
I too think I'd be more than a little miffed if the distance was shortened - hurts the bragging rights (but in my book you earned 'em!)
Oh, I hate the short course! After working so hard, that's NOT what you want to hear! Sorry this happened. :(
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