Bright shirts, bright sky! This year I ran the 15K in my fastest time!
This past Saturday I ran my third and final Pensacola Double Bridge Run. This year the route was slightly different, and there were medals for the 15K finishers for the first time. This is also the first year the 15K race sold out (I believe they capped it at 2500 runners).
As always, I have to be on the buses before 6am to be transported to the race start, which this year was at the new Pensacola Maritime Park (where the minor league baseball team plays).
A lovely sunrise over my right shoulder (on the left in the picture) before the race started.
The first year I ran this in 2011, the weather was chilly and it was overcast the entire time. There was a brisk north wind that seemingly propelled me across the two bridges. In 2012, the wind was from the south, still overcast, but about 30 degrees warmer. You could wring out my shirt after finishing that one. And a south wind means it felt like I was running in place when on the bridges.
For 2013, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was in the mid-30s at race start, and around 50 degrees by the time we finished. The sun was in our faces, and I even had a little bit of a sunburn!
The sun was in my face during the entire race. With temperatures in the 30s and 40s, it was a welcome addition. I don’t like running with sunglasses, so I was essentially squinting the whole time.
I am testing the MapMyFitness iPhone app for GeekMom; the app mapped my route well, but it seemed to pace me pretty fast: 1:28 hours for the 15K (a little more actually, which is something I’m working out with the company), which is much faster than I usually run. My official race time is around 1:30 hours, which is more realistic.
I’ll say more about the app in my official review.
I also took many pictures on the route, and the pictures geolocate along the route in the app, which is also pretty cool.
One of the 22 pictures I took along the route. Most of them look like this, to be honest. In this case, I’m ascending the Pensacola Beach Bridge (the 2nd bridge of the two). On the entire route, the outermost of the northbound lanes were blocked off for us.
The finish is very inspiring, and the after party is a lot of fun. We finish the race near the Boardwalk section of Pensacola Beach, and the numerous businesses there work together to provide free food and beer to the finishers.
I love my medal! It’s designed in the spirit of my favorite gaudy sign (linked photo courtesy of Fotomom)!
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