TC One Mile Race Report

Last night was the TC 1 Mile race! It was so much fun (they had a photo booth type area set up!) even though right up to the gun I was cursing my friend for convincing me to run it. I guess I'll never get over the pre-race jitters!

We don't look nervous, just awesome.

It was the ninth annual running of this event, which is held on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. The race is limited to 3,300 runners who compete in seven different waves (imagine 3000 people all starting a one mile race at once...).

The first two waves (Friends & Family and Corporate Team Challenge) are pretty crazy and packed with runners. The first year I ran this I had no clue what to do so I ran the Friends & Family wave. There was a lot of child dodging involved and there were not a lot of people to run with towards the end.

This year my friend Meg and I entered in the Open wave (described as for "competitive runners under 40). We figured it would be a good field that we could hold our own in. I met Meg at her house and we ran the 2 miles over the start of the race. I had picked up our packets on Wednesday so we didn't have to check in or anything. We got there really early and stood around for a little while with some of my coworkers who I badgered into running the race. It was way colder and windier than I had expected, and I did not dress appropriately! I had planned on racing in a tank top and shorts but wound up keeping my super non-technical hoodie on for the race. I also wore my kick ass new shoes: 


Nike Lunaracer. Just as pink in real life.

I was a little nervous about these since I bought them on Wednesday (yes the night before the race). But I love them! They are super comfortable and still felt fast. There are some other great color combos on the Nike web site...so I might get another pair!

Anyway. Meg and I warmed up by jogging around the block a few times before it was time to get in the chute. They had pace markers so you could line up where you think you should be. We were just behind the 6:00 group. The Open Wave was definitely not as big as the other waves and for a while there we were nervous that we were going to look like idiots and get our butts kicked. I guess everyone was also warming up because more people filtered into the corral and I was confident that I could beat at least some of them.

Our plan was to run comfortably hard for the first 400 and not sprint out and die. Well it felt hard, and not comfortable. My legs were cold and felt all locked up for the first 400- I think we hit that in 1:23/24 ish. However, from that point I got into a good rhythm and just kept rolling. I think we hit the half mile at 2:50/51. No idea what we hit 1200 in, but this is where Meg typically pulls away from me in short races like this- and  yesterday was no exception. She finished in 5:43 and I was done in 5:45. Not too bad, although I was hoping for under 5:40 (next year!). We had a pretty generous tailwind so that helped of course!

Overall this was a great, well organized race. Mile races are pretty rare these days, and I love how many people participate in this one!
For runner nerds: Nick Willis won the men's race in 3:56, and Sarah Brown won the women's in 4:33.3. For a good recap, check out Down the Backstretch.
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Photo booths: love them or leave them?
-I love them. The more props, the better.

Do you still get nervous before races?