Race Recap: BTN Big 10K

This Saturday Ryan and I did the BTN Big 10K! Although it was crowded, it was a fun race and we loved representing Purdue. My total time was 51:45 (8:20 min/mile) and Ryan's was 41:15 (6:39 min/mile), pretty good!

If you're not familiar with college sports, the Big Ten is the conference in the midwest and contains some of the biggest rivalries in the country. So naturally, this race was really fun because we were competing with alumni/students from other schools and showing our Purdue spirit. I "ran" into a lot of friends both from Purdue and other schools. Chicago really is a central location for the Big Ten schools so there were plenty of people from in-town and that made the drive here.

If it wasn't for the fun school spirit aspect of this race, I would have hated it! It was so crowded in the beginning and pretty much the entire way. There was a bottleneck of people getting into the corrals in the beginning so we weren't even able to get into our designated A and C corrals and had to start in E. Both Ryan and I were quite faster than the people starting in those corrals so we have to weave a lot. I eventually caught up to people my pace by the 5K checkpoint but Ryan said he was passing people the whole way...he really needed to be in corral A! So it was difficult for Ryan to run but he still got a great time! I was satisfied with my time too because I was aiming for 52:00 and I beat that! Plus 8:20 is a great pace for me. So despite the crowded and narrow race course and the difficulty of getting into our corrals in the beginning, we still had great race times!

I had a good race last weekend too at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. This race was a lot shorter of course and my pace was almost a minute faster. I felt good pretty much the whole was but I was starting to lose energy at the end. I didn't really eat much before the race and did even eat the chia gel I made for during the race. If it had been a longer race I would have taken it around mile 5. I'm working on some homemade combos for energy gels so I'll share them once I get the recipes right. Before the race I made a smoothie with rejuvelac, spirulina, frozen banana, and Vega Pre-Workout Energizer. I also ate one of my gels that had chia seeds and dates in it. I'm super-confident in my marathon training now that I ran two successful races!

The weather on race day was actually perfect for running. It was about 60 F and cloudy. I was chilly after the race so I changed my shirt and put on a light jacket. My Purdue socks were also quite a hit. It's actually been quite cold this weekend for July. It feels like spring or fall, not summer. Being from south Florida, I'm a warm weather person and I like the heat! I don't like that it's too cold for the pool!

The post race party was just as crowded at the race itself. We had to wait in long lines to get our bags from gear check and then also to get beers. That's why we got two each! I don't necessarily agree with the health aspect of it, but beer is a good way to replenish carbs after a race. Plus the after party was set up as a tailgate so drinking beer felt natural. That's our friend James on the left in the picture above. He ran the 5K and it was only his second race ever so he did great!

Despite the long lines for beer, the post race tailgate party was really fun. I ran into some old and new friends from Purdue and other schools. The race was mostly younger people but there were some older alumni too. The mascots and cheerleaders from each school were there too but I didn't run into Purdue Pete to take a picture! The mascots did a synchronized dance on stage at one point and it was pretty funny.

This was only the second annual race for BTN (Big Ten Network) so I hope that they can improve next year. It really is a great idea but the disorganization at the beginning and the mismanagement of crowds after the race were annoying. Regardless, I'll probably run it again next year!!

Finally, a special shout out to my friend and DG sister Neena who ran her very first race!! "Couch to 5K" is possible! I'm proud of her and she enjoyed it so I hope we can run more races together!

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Did you run any races this weekend?

How do you show your school spirit? Go Boilers!