Palo Alto Moonlight Run 10K Race Report

Rickshaw · Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 10:47 pm

I've done some races at the last minute before, but this one probably beats them all. This afternoon, after my regular lunchtime run, some coworkers were discussing a local "Moonlight Run" happening nearby tonight. Since I already had my running gear with me, I decided to do jump into the race myself. Unfortunately this involved pulling my sweaty, stinky running clothes back out of my bag, and putting them back on. Yuck. It also meant that I didn't have my just-purchased headlamp, which would have been perfect for this race.

I actually did this same race back in 2002, when I was first getting into running. I had such a miserable time stumbling and tripping around in the dark that I vowed never to do it again, but... oh well, what the hell. There was a pretty big crowd for the 10K, probably 500 to 1000 runners. It was fully dark by the time the race started, and much of the route was on paths out along San Francisco Bay where there are no lights at all. Even with the full moon, it was definitely difficult to see.

I didn't have much of a time goal in mind, but I vowed to take it easy early on. With the crowds and the darkness, it was hard to go very fast anyway. It actually turned into a pretty good race, though, with the first two miles being a little slow, and then I held a good consistent pace through to the finish. My time was 46:00 flat-- not great compared to my 10K PR, but pretty decent considering that I'm just now getting back in shape, and also considering how much the uneven footing on dirt paths in the dark with no light slowed me down. I think I finished in 48:30 something when I did the race in 2002. So I came away feeling pretty pleased. With the lunchtime run, today was also my first "double" in a long time, and I didn't even plan it!