2011 Waunafest 10 Miler Race Report

Last Saturday, July 30, I ran the 33rd Annual Waunafest 10 Miler in Waunakee, Wisconsin (HERE). I believe this was my fourth year running this event. The course has changed slightly over the past four years ... but it has always been hot, humid and hilly. This year did not disappoint.

There was also a 5K, a 2 mile fun walk and a kids race associated with the ten miler. Waunafest is a fun festival that takes place in the only Waunakee in the world. It's a great family-friendly atmostphere. The festival starts and ends at the community park and there is a a nice park for the family to play at while you race and plenty of restrooms and shelters.


The race started at 7:30 and I don't live too far from Waunakee. So, I set my alarm for 6am and got dressed in my cute race ensemble. I headed out solo around 6:30 and arrived way too early for the race. Packet pick up is at the Community Building and it is awesome with plenty of nice restrooms, lines aren't long and packet pickup is always a breeze. I hydrated in the Marathon Mommy Minivan, had a gel and a banana and made a few stops to the bathroom.

During my last stop, I ran into Ken and Barb (I wish she went by Barbie!), a sweet couple from the Couch to 5K program that I coached in the Spring. They were running their fourth 5K for the summer and said that they are running the 5K at the Madison Mini Marathon in August. I was totally excited to hear that running has become apart of their lives as well. Totally awesome.

I ventured to the start line just before the National Anthem was being sung and the group of 10 milers were ready to start. The 5K was starting 5 minutes later. I got my game face on, and saw my friend, Tina, waving with a smile along the side of the street. I was ready to race on the hot, end-of-July morning! We were off ....

The course was exactly the same as last year, from what I recall. Pretty hilly, pretty open, very sunny. We started out through a business district that was all open with a few hills, then through a nice residential area, where many families have their own water stations and sprinklers set up. It's always refreshing and fun to see the little kids handing out water in their pj's.

There were plenty of water stations out on the course, but I still always carry my handheld water with me. I like to carry my own water until I run out, but also like to store my gels and my key to my vehicle in it. I was really disappointed that there wasn't any Gatorade or drink with electrolytes in it. Just water. I rarely get thirsty during a race, and I was sweating so much that I was really feeling thirsty the second half. Gatorade or something similar would've helped me out.

At about mile five, I saw my friend Tina's sister and brother-in-law at the water station cheering runners along. Angie said, "Go Running Diva Mom". It gave me a little extra boost to move forward. We ran through a cute bridge and another residential neighborhood.

My first few miles were slow, and were only getting slower. I just wanted to finish.

We then ran back through the business district and up an annoying gradual hill and past the start line, where spectators were watching the winners come in on the track. We then started the 5K route that the other runners had ran. I've always loved/hated this 5K course. It's a nice course, but totally hilly and I crash and burn on it every single time. Yet, I continue to come back! We ran through some residential neighborhoods and approached the track around the field, to the finish line. I sped up my last half of a mile and really tried to push it again.

I heard my name called several times as I approached the finish line, as peeps cheered for me. It's so nice to see familiar faces out there, when my kids aren't with me on race day anymore. My time was not anywhere close to what I wanted, but I was happy nonetheless. I reunited with sweet Barb and Ken that stuck around after the 5K to watch me finish; saw Jason who I met at the event last year who recognized me from my blog; hung out with my good friend Tina and met her family and friends (many who we would be hanging out with at the festival later in the day). Just to prove how thirsty I was, I drank four bottles of water while I cooled down and chatted with everyone post-race and then downed a whole can of Diet Dew on my short drive home.

I finished at 1:34 and some change, MUCH slower than my last two races ... but whatever. I was happy with it ... and still was smiling and having a great time when I finished. I love being able to brag and say I had a PR, but that just isn't happening for me lately. Should I refocus, adjust my training schedule, fix my diet, so that I can be faster? Maybe. I do find that I have a good balance of fun and running lately. I'm still able to reach my mileage goals, run my events, but am not struggling to push myself and go above and beyond. I'm still loving what I'm doing. That's all that matters. I'm still consistent with everything going on in my life, and running continues to be apart of my life every single day. I still tend to run six days a week. And if I only run five days, I'm still thinking about it, encouraging others to run/train, blogging about it or working on establishing a local running club when I'm not putting miles in on the pavement.

244/406 overall

83/192 females

10/31 age group
1:34:09
9:25 min mile