Montrose Race for Independence 10k Recap

I found this race just a couple of days before 4th of July and convinced Joe into registering us. The late registration fee was still only $25 so I figured it was a great deal! It was a little over an hour away from home, which meant we had a reallllly early morning. We got there early and were able to get our packets and use the restroom with some time to spare.

There were tons of people there and everything started exactly on time. The races started with a kid's fun run, then the 5k started and the 10k started ten minutes after the 5k did. The 10k started out with a short run through town and then to this decline. Unfortunately, every downhill has an uphill and the hill after I took this picture was rough. The scenery was gorgeous though, so that helped!

The first two miles were on paved roads, the middle two miles were down a residential dirt road, and most of the final two miles were on wooded trails, with the exception of the finish that looped back through town. I've never run on nice trails like this before and it was really serene and fun! It was also the only completely shaded part of the course.

The course support for this race was the greatest I've experienced so far. There were so many people out cheering and some homeowners on the course even had sprinklers and hoses out to spritz runners as they ran by if they wanted. It really helps having nice people out to cheer you on!

My Garmin said I ran 6.3 miles in 1:06:10, but my official race time was 1:05:59. They had mile markers at each mile and I noticed that my Garmin was going off progressively later after I passed each marker. This race was a little tough with the heat, humidity, and hills, but I'm happy that I was able to hang around a 10:30 average pace. 

There was an Independence Day Festival going on when we got done with a cook out and some craft vendors, but we didn't really stick around too long, as we had our own festivities to attend. It looked like a great place to spend the afternoon. 

We headed to my grandparents' property to get our freedom on with some awesome 'merica shirts that we found at Wal-Mart of course. We had our own personal fireworks show and some homemade pulled pork, which was amazing.

Luna went swimming involuntarily and spent the rest of the day giving us sad eyes about it. Not my fault she has to roll in any disgusting thing she finds.

My legs were pretty sore the next day, but I'm attributing it to the fact that I wore flip flops instead of my compression socks for most of the day after the race and I did a lot of standing around. In other news, I started a structured half marathon training plan yesterday, so I'll be ready for the Pocono Lake Region Half at the end of September! Woot!

How did you spend your 4th of July? Any races or delicious cook outs? :P