Bolder Boulder 10K - Baghdad, Iraq

Today started off pretty early, with a reporting time to the race site of 0530. Edwin Diaz, Ben Grimes, Johnny Provost and I arrived together to see a mass of people with running numbers on, there was music playing in the background and a bit of excitement in the air. The temperature was quite warm and humid, warm enough to reconsider running a 10K, but we had already set the wheel in motion. We registered at the tables, received our numbers and listened to a safety brief. After that the race organizers moved us to the starting line in the same manner as if we were actually in Boulder, CO. We had our warning and then the start. The crowd surged forward as we began our run. You could see the adrenaline in some of the runners who ran far to the outside of the main group so they could pass and with a burst of energy, they would fly past large groups of runners. After the first mile the group began to spread out with the fast runners very far ahead of my slow pace. We hit the first water point grabbed a cup of water and blah - it was hot water. The water was warm because they had to preposition crates of water prior to the start of the race and we do not have coolers or enough ice to have kept it cold. That was okay, we moved on. I was feeling pretty good and my pace was consistent. We pass the 3 mile mark and I think, wow - this is just short of the half way mark, but still feeling pretty good. We make a turn and are blessed with a content stream of air blowing against us; it felt great! We make another turn and hit another water point, yep, more hot water. It is not that bad, just a surprise. It was great to be able to rinse your mouth out and drink just a little. We move on past he fourth mile and I am starting to get a little tired, but the pace of the other runners keeps me motivated. We pass the 5 mile mark and make the final turn when I notice that the wind I was so happy for earlier, is now at my back and it is almost like you are just standing still in a room with the heat on. This was the hardest stretch of road on the course, but you can see the finish line ahead. At this point, I see runners speeding up and passing up people left and right trying to get to that long awaited finish line. We get the the last street and they have us turn left and then loop back to the finish line! YEAH! It is over and boy am I relieved. I finished at 1:00.04, that is one hour and 4 seconds. My goal for the race was not to set any records, but just to get out and run a 10K. This was my first and not the last. Some of the other guys with me ran in the low 50s. We all had a great time and even got a free t-shirt to boot!

This run was coordinated by a couple of military members stationed here and they did an excellent job! Everything ran smoothly and there is nothing I could see that they could have improved on. There were also about 30 or so volunteers on hand to make sure everything was running good and I just want to thank them for making this an excellent event.

Here is the link to the real Bolder Boulder 10K which has around 50 thousand runners each year. http://www.bolderboulder.com/