Miracle Miles 15k Race Report

I ran my first 15k this morning, the Miracle Miles 15k race. The minute my sister in law and BFF, Kerri mentioned it to me, I knew I wanted to do it. One, it was right in line with my training plan, and two, it benefits the women and children's hospital, Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando. The race was set to start at 7:20, so I was up at 4:30 and out the door by 5:00 to meet up with Kerri and head to the race. Traffic was a bit rough when we got there, but we quickly found a spot and out we went to talk to the start/finish line. Wow, I was thoroughly overwhelmed with the amount of people. I had heard that they anticipated 3500 people combined for the 5k and the 15k, but I guess I just didn't realize how many people that really was.

5k went out first at 7:00 am, and more than half of the runners were off. About 10 mins later, we began to line up for the 7:20 start of the 15k. I was shocked that right before we were to set off, 3 of the 5k runners were finishing. Amazingly quick - if this was any inclination of what the competition was like in the 15k, I was in trouble. Not that I expected to place, anyways - this was just for fun. 7:20 hit, but by the time I crossed the start line it was about 7:25. Definitely not used to that.

We started off with a nice, easy pace, and some good conversation. This was how we started our very first race together, a 5k back in 2009. We both did well in that race, and it was so enjoyable. We did 3/1 intervals and just kept a pace that was comfortable. No reason to start off too fast, and not be able to finish. Off through downtown Orlando we went, over brick-layed roads, out to almost Lake Underhill and then back down past Lake Eola. It was really fun race, and I felt pretty good through all of it. When we got close to the finish line, I decided that I was going to run my hardest and so did Kerri. We finished, at the same time, with a clock time of 1:54:44, and a chip time of 1:52:54. Placed 1355 out of 1698 overall, 128 out of 165 in my division, and 708 out of 956 in my gender, and got some pretty nice bling. Not too shabby for my first 15k.

Front of Finisher's Medal