“I went out swinging”
Deseret News 10k
Family picture post race
Summary
This 10k was a fun race to look forward to during a difficult summer as a new dad. While struggling to get sleep, it was helpful to maintain motivation with a fun race to break about the summer. The trip felt like a mini travel trip with the team. Conner Mantz decided to race the half last minute, and he needed a last minute ride. So we were privileged with the chance to offer a seat. One thing I’ve learned when traveling with Conner is that you can’t just walk around runners without getting stopped several times to chat or take pictures with him. He’s too famous around here.
I loved getting to make a trip to Salt Lake City. Although it’s so close, we rarely make our way up there. It was also a blast staying in a hotel right next to the start line. I never expected to warm up, then change into race gear in a hotel room with my family there. I was hoping to mix it up with Rory and Jared on this fast course, but I just couldn’t given my recent training. I wound up 6th, fading to a 29:52 at the finish.
The finish area was a party. There were so many familiar faces and free food everywhere. Honestly it was just a happy community to be around. This was a fun trip.
Front pack coming down the hill in the first mile
The Race
Right at the start, I went out hard. I wanted to run with the front for top 3, or die trying. Coming down the hill, I glanced at my watch at about 1/2 miles where I saw the pace was hovering around 4:10. A little panic set in, but I tried to shake it off. Coming up on the mile, I knew the pace was far too hot for my abilities at this time so I let them go. Still, I came through in 4:22, just 3 seconds back from the lead. There were still 5 people in the front pack! At this point I started looking around for someone to run with that I could hang on to. Jason Lynch and someone else came up and flew by me so they weren’t good options. But then my old teammate Adam Wood came crawling up to me (like he tends to do) at 2 miles in (8:52).
I assumed we would just run together, but instead there was an unspoken battle emerging. It felt as though Adam tried to drop me every couple of minutes. With each move, I covered it until he backed off. When he backed off I naturally started to edge him by a half step. This battle continued as we clipped 4:55 pace for 3 miles, picking off a couple lead pack stragglers along the way. When we rounded the final turn with about 3/4 miles left to run, surge after surge we battled. Despite our best efforts to finish hard, our 6th mile was a measly 5:12. When all was said and done, we exchanged leads (for 6th) probably 10 times on the stretch before I finally broke Adam in the final sprint. Considering the early drop, I was actually very pleased with this little victory. I knew top 3 was out of the question early, and I was happy to stay under 30:00 and get 6th. Although I didn’t feel prepared, I still had a good experience, and a respectable finish. Congrats to my friend Rory Linkletter for taking the win!