47. Downtown 10K, 2009

There won’t be many footraces after this point since Winter is on the way, so I was excited to find out about an event right here in downtown Burlington. The downtown 10K is less than a mile from my apartment, so how could I pass it up?

About the Event

The Downtown 10K was organized by Susan Crisculo at Green Mountain Rehab in Burlington, Vermont. The target charity this time was the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Team in Training.

This was a simple event. It was a quick walk to Church Street, as I’ve done with Cara many times. (Cara declined to walk downtown with me this time. It was yucky outside and she was recovering from a cold.) There was a little rain in the morning, but nothing which would require an umbrella. The chill in the air was enough to suggest the track jacket for the trip to the Starting Line, but not enough to require running with it. I had plans to stash the jacket somewhere before the race.

Pug People

For some reason, these dogs have an effect upon people. Maybe it’s because they were bred to be companion dogs, or maybe they have some kind of psychic power that I don’t know about.

All I know is that these smush-faced little weirdos are able to capture the hearts of humans. Hell, even I’m doing it. After a couple of months living with Cara’s pug Dublin, I find myself smiling and asking questions about any pug I see on the street. It’s damned weird. I never had this reaction to beagles or retrievers.

Before the Race

Since it was the first Downtown 10K, it was kind of small. I was hoping to see a bigger crowd, but I can’t complain. I met a few people, and Burlington is such a small town that it could lead to a few new friendships. After the light jog to the event, I found my track jacket to be a bit warm. I trusted in the indifference of strangers and tucked it behind a support column near the registration table.

I saw some folks stretching a bit, so I did the same. I hadn’t run at all since the marathon two weeks prior, so I wanted to be sure that I didn’t pull anything. I was shooting for a steady race rather than a quick one.

The Race Itself

Traffic wasn’t stopped for this one, so we had to be careful. We had Church street and about a block of free space. There were police guiding us through the intersections, and on the way back there were traffic cones to separate us from traffic. I would have been worried anywhere else, but Burlington Vermont isn’t known for road rage. At 9am on a Sunday morning, there isn’t too much traffic to worry about.

The nicest thing about this course was the fact that it was a loop. We went through Battery Park to the Waterfront Bike Trail, then looped around to North Avenue and followed that back down to Battery Park again. The beginning and end shared a little bit of road, but it wasn’t just another out-and-back run. Plus, the weather was good for a race. Just cool enough to be comfortable and wet enough to be refreshing.

Photo Credit

It’s always exciting to get emails from other folks who found themselves on my website. I find that it’s equally fun to find myself on someone else’s. Here’s a link to Jan’s site: www.runwithjan.com. The next two photos below come from her site.

After the Race

I traded congratulations with a few people and made a few friends. I also made the ritual trip to the munchies table. Aside from the bit of water I got on my camera lens, life was pretty good. Susan organized a nice, fun event.

Final Thoughts

I’m looking forward to next year’s event. This one was well-organized and fun. I hope it grows.

 View Album on Flickr