Run for Beans 10k Race Report

Saturday my husband and I ran the Run for Beans 10k here in Anchorage.  This is the second year I have participated in this race and I really think it is a fun race!  This year it was my husband's first 10k and the furthest he has ever ran, so he was a bit nervous, but I think small friendly local races like this one are just the place to get those nerves out!

We got up early Saturday morning, and Ill admit it was really nice not being the only one who had to get up early to eat and take care of business.  Once we got to the race we went through the motions of getting bibs, hitting the pottys and meeting up with friends.  There was some confusion over who was starting when (you got to start early if you had a costume) but it all got sorted and we were off!  My husband (the shark) was running with my friends husband (who was in lederhosen), I was running by myself and couldn't find my costume and my friend and her mother in law were walking the 5k with her new month old baby.

Once I got running I knew my friends named shin splints were going to join me for a while.  I had shin splints for the first time this spring and since i ramped up my mileage a bit the last couple weeks they have come back.  So its back to ice, stretching, massage, Epsom salts and all that jazz for me.  However in a run I know the discomfort will fade after about 2 miles, so on Saturday I was able to press on.  The race route snaked along Cook Inlet on our Coastal Trail with a slight detour where the bridge fell in this past year, I hope they get the new bridge finished soon!  It was an out and back course so I got to see all the crazy fast people and my husband and our friend, Kris and Chris.  Another friend's girlfriend was running so its always fun to see her, she is super fast.  She has won multiple races and again got first female with a time of somewhere around 38 minutes.  I think I have ran a 5k in that time, but who is counting :)

As I ran I realized that while the 10k is one of my favorite distances, this race was only my third ever!  It is not an extremely popular distance up here for some reason so the races are few and far between.  My PR for a 10k is an hour 6 minutes and I came close to that with an hour 8 minute race earlier this year.  I was hoping to come in around an hour 10 minutes on this race and finished just a few minutes behind that with an hour 13 minutes.  I didn't push this race too hard, just enjoyed the run so I was happy with my time.

Afterwards we all met up to hear the award winners and oogle over my friends baby who they gave a kids metal to when her and her mom finished the race.  Isn't she adorable!  After the race Kris and I went to breakfast to celebrate and talk running.  I love that he is more into running now, even though I sometimes have to temper the urge to kick him for being so naturally good at it, it is a fun new dynamic to our relationship!

Lastly, I cant forget to mention, that while I love running races, I also love running races with a good cause behind them.  The Run for Beans is actually a fundraiser for our local soup kitchen and shelter, Beans Cafe and Brother Francis Shelter.  They are amazing organizations that work incredibly hard supporting our very large homeless population.  I have gotten the privileged of serving food and supporting their work several times and am  always so impressed with the grace and respect they have for people.  They are truly wonderful people.