Hershey 10k Race

Last Sunday, April 14th, I ran the Hershey 10k race in none other than Hershey, PA! Perfect running weather greeted, Alison and I – a little cold standing around but once we warmed up it felt great. After we arrived and parked in Hershey, we met up with my other friend Amy and chatted awhile. Soon it was time to cycle through the bathroom line and get our place at the start. I was excited for this race because I really enjoyed it last year but a little nervous because I hadn’t gotten much running in during the week. But I figured I would push as hard as I could and see what happened. I quickly got into a groove and was feeling really good. I ran my fastest mile EVER by about two minutes in the first mile of the race – oops!! I was still feeling really good and as we wound our way through the parking lots of the resort I was excited that I could see the middle of the pack. As we rounded our way along, Hersheypark Drive, there was a water stop. I have finally figured out how to fuel my body and had a little bit of Gatorade and water and was feeling great. I was excited to turn back by the outlets because I knew we were nearing the half way point and soon would get to run through Hersheypark – a highlight of the race. If you have ever been to Hersheypark, you know all about the hills. This combined with other rolling hills, makes this course interesting and a little challenging. I tried to run up some of the hills and run all the downhills. A nice change from last year’s course was added time in the park!! They squeaked out more distance by having us run the path by the newest coaster – Sky Rush. I would imagine if you were in the middle of the pack this area would be really congested because the course is so narrow here (about the width of a sidewalk). Soon, we headed out of the park and I new the finish was just a short distance away. I knew I was going to PR but was excited to see my how much. I turned into the stadium and sprinted through the finish. I looked at my watch and saw I finished in 01:16:43 – a 7 min PR over last year!! I excitedly retrieved my medal (really neat design!!) and got food and water. I waited by the finish to see Alison come in – she had a great race too and set a PR. After we took a few pics, we headed over to the Hershey Grill for breakfast. The Hershey Races are great – they are relatively inexpensive, interesting courses, and great pre and post race amenities.