MEC races 1 and 2

On a whim this year I signed up for the MEC race series. 5 races between January and October, all of varying distances, but for a really great low price. I have already run the first 2.

Race One was on January 29th an went through Point Pleasant park.  This was the first time I had ever run in the park and I was a bit worried about the terrain.  Would it be muddy or icy?  It turned out to be a beautiful day, not too cold and the ground was perfect to run on.

This was a 5k run and I finished with  a chip time of 00:52:32.

Race 2 was on April 30th.  Originally I had signed up to do the 10k.  I figured it was a month after I would have finished the Fool's Run Half-Marathon, so doing 10k should be a piece of cake.  Then I checked out the course!

The course started inside the fort at Citadel hill, went around the outer star, up and down the hill leading to the fort (twice), through the grass moats and back into the fort over cobbled walkways with really short doors.  To do the 10k, you went around twice.  The idea of running up that hill 4 times was enough to get me to knock my registration done to 5k.  

The day was clear, but cold and windy and it was a really tough course.  I knew I would struggle with the hills, but the grass in the moat was wet, making it slippery, cobble stone is not fun to run on and trying to duck through doorways while faster runners are trying to pass you is almost impossible.

I finished with a chip time of 00:55:48, which given the route, I was very pleased with.