Winter Park Road Race 10k + 2 Miler Distance Dare Recap

Two weekends ago, I ran the Winter Park Road Race 10k + 2 Miler Distance Dare. This was my worst race last year, probably because I was about 8 weeks pregnant and hadn’t been running a lot/was feeling sick and fatigued but so far this year, it was also my worst race and I can assure you I am not pregnant again!

MRTT Mommas

Before the race, I was actually able to meet up with my MRTT Running group (I’m usually running late and miss the meet-up), and there were several chapters represented! During the meet up, I was able to find my friend Meredith, and we ran the 2 miler together. We ran a nice, easy pace and chatted the whole way. We ran the first mile straight through and then started 2/1 intervals during the 2^nd mile.  She was meeting up with a different friend for the 10k and I was on a hunt to find a bathroom between the 2 Miler and the 10k so we separated after the 2 miler. I unfortunately only had about 6 minutes between races so I wasn’t able to find a bathroom and started the 10k with really needing to pee. Luckily I was able to find a no-line porta-potty during mile 2 so it wasn’t too bad and didn’t really affect my time (not that it was great regardless of the stop). The one good thing about this course is it goes through Winter Park and there are quite a few houses under construction along the course so there are plenty of random porta-pottys for us runners.

I had a terrible stomachache/cramps during the 10k which made it just miserable to run. I kept thinking to myself, well I can just walk the rest, but then I’d think, but the more I walk the longer it’ll take to get home and showered. Plus we had plans later that morning so I knew I needed to get home as quickly as possible. It was super humid out too so it felt a lot warmer than it was. The last few races I have run in have had beautiful running weather so the humidity on this one really sucked. 

This is the second time I’ve done this race/distance dare event and both times I had bad experiences (mostly because of how I was feeling though, not because of the race itself). The 2-miler was so crowded and full of people who had zero running etiquette. This is pretty common for shorter runs and this old sold out, so it was very congested. It’s a good starter race for people who aren’t quite ready for a 5k and I only run that in addition to the 10k because it comes with a medal. I actually do really enjoy the course of both (minus the brick paver roads). There are a lot of nice things to look at (golf course, lakes, parks, mansions, etc.) and it’s mostly shaded. They do a great post-race party and always give out a nice wine glass to participants (plus the medal for the 10k). Track Shack does put on good events, although they are pretty much selling out all their races lately (good for them obviously) but it also means they are pretty crowded events. I always get sucked into this particular race because it’s a distance dare and it has medals, but I don’t think I’ll participate next year. Although, I say that now, knowing me, I’ll probably change my mind when it comes around haha.

My 2 Miler Stats:

Official Chip Time: 24:55 (overall pace of 12:14)

Place: 760 of 1037 Finishers

Place: 452 of the 671 Women Finishers

Place: 57 of 84 in my Women’s Age Division (25-29)

My RunKeeper stats:

2.04 miles in 24:55 (overall pace of 12:14) <- wow I don’t think my RunKeeper time has EVER been the exact same as my chip

Fastest Mile: #1 at 11:39

Slowest Mile: #2 at 12:53

My 10k Stats:

Official Chip Time: 1:15:27 (overall pace of 12:08) 

Place: 1914 of 3013 Finishers

Place: 1111 of the 2007 Women Finishers

Place: 160 of 281 in my Women’s Age Division (25-29)

My RunKeeper stats:

6.30 miles in 1:15:00 (overall pace of 11:54) <- I started it late

Fastest Mile: #3 at 11:24

Slowest Mile: #5 at 12:34 

Distance Dare Stats (they had limited stats, added together the two times & showed placement for gender): 

Official Chip Time: 1:40:35
Place: 272 of 462 Women Finishers

and the commemorative wine glass