Citrus Heritage Run ~ Race Report

This race was amazing for a ton of reasons. First, it was my first 10K. Second, my dear husband agreed to run it with me despite the dry heat (it was ~65°F when we started and below 75°F when we finished). Third, I love supporting the city of Riverside. Fourth, the idea that we are celebrating the Citrus Heritage makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

It was funny because (as usual) we didn't pre-register for the race, although I have been informed by my husband that in the future we WILL pre-register, so we arrived only 15 minutes before the start of the race and had to get registered and pay the entry fees in a short amount of time. We got our free t-shirts and goodie bags and ran back to stash them in the car. We heard the announcer start the race so we ran from the parking garage to the starting line to begin our timing chips.

PRO: There were water stops so conveniently spaced, plenty of happy volunteers!

CON: I didn't like the part where we ran along Van Buren, personally I would prefer to run through the citrus fields more (see http://www.mapmyride.com/user/united-states/ca/san-diego/fb.kayk.679 to see the course and to browse my training log).

PRO: The part where we ran along Victoria was *magical*

PRO: Fellow competitors from the Riverside Road Runners club (http://www.riversideroadrunners.com/) in our pace group helped provide stability and conversation while enjoying the new route and scenery.

Last year, we finished the 5K in 37:30 while this year we finished the 10K in 1:04:44 so I think that shows a great improvement in pace and distance! And there's nuthin' betta' than finishin' togetha'. For real.