Dawg Dash

Today we ran the Dawg Dash, a 10K run around the University of Washington campus to raise money for student scholarships. We were scheduled to run 6 miles anyway, so why not run to support a good cause -- and get a t-shirt...

Today was a gorgeous day, perfect running weather with a bright blue sky but briskly cool temperatures. I was a little nervous, looking at the other runners -- and worrying because the 5K was described as a "run/walk" while the 10K was a "run" -- and I knew I'd need to intersperse a bit of running with my walking. We took pix before the race in the bright bright sun (apparently I chose not to put my face on this morning?):


Also the infield before the race:


We watched the 5K runners start (much to my dismay; I really wanted to 10K runners to start first) and then lined up at the back of the pack by the 11:00/mile marker. A woman walked past us, moving farther behind us and saying "Ah, the honest people!"

Again, I was fiddling with too much technology, so I started my Nike+ before the starting gun even went off. But off we went, running around the track in Husky Stadium, and then out and around the old carpool parking lot, across the bridge, and down along the BGT for a while. Then a meandering trip back and forth across the campus -- up towards Drumheller Fountain, past the HUB, up through the Quad, out around the northern parking lots, and then back down towards Red Square, past the Henry, and then a few surprising turns around a part of campus I'd never seen. Finally, we were back on the BGT and headed back to the bridge.

We were running 5 minutes, walking 1, and basically setting our pace off two couples who we would pass on the run, and let pass us on the walks. This was going okay -- until the last mile, when we just ran behind the couple at their pace. It was nice running behind them -- until we got closer to the stadium and they were joined by a friend who had already finished... and ended up slowing them down. So we passed them and moved on. Down the hill to the stadium entrance, then back in to the stadium and on the track -- dodging 5Kers with strollers leaving the stadium. A nice sprint to the finish, holding hands, and we were done.

All in all, the course was nice, but I had forgotten just how hilly the campus is!

One criticism -- they ran out of water at the end of the race. Plenty of chips and salsa, plenty of fruit, plenty of other treats -- but no water, no juice, nothing. Oh well. They *did* have water on the course at least.

Still feeling good about the run, no real stiffness or soreness. And looking forward to the Run Like Hell half next week.