International Champion!

Today, I ran a 10K race called La Course de Timo. There are several children's events, a 4K and a 10K ... all to raise research money to find a cure for childhood brain tumors. The founders of the race lost their little boy, Timo, to a brain tumor several years ago. One of the sponsors of the race is the Crédit Mutuel bank of Seiches sur le Loir, where the race takes place; Philipp's brother Dominique is the director of the bank, and he's the one who got me involved.

It was a sunny morning, and the 10:30 start meant that the temperature was rising. There were about 400 runners in the 10K event. We started with a small loop through the downtown, then did a longer loop three times. Unfortunately, the longer loop had a long, steady hill. The first time up, I knew that it would be tough to meet my goal of finishing in under 48 minutes. I'd been training for the race, but hadn't done much hill work. I kept pushing my pace, but was sure to keep an eye on my heartrate; if I were to stay too high for too long, I wouldn't be able to finish strong.

As always, Philipp was with me to cheer me on. It was fun to see him each time I passed near the finish line, as he watched with my sister-in-law and my niece and nephews (two of my brothers-in-law also ran the race ... I finished after one, and before the other). He also had a large American flag, which I grabbed and carried for the last few meters. They made a big deal about having an American running the race. They even interviewed me after the finish, and gave me a big bouquet of flowers. (Well, the flowers were because one of the female winners didn't stick around for the awards, and my banker brother-in-law, who was on the podium to give out awards, suggested that they give them to the American -- the other presenters didn't know we were related!)
And how did I do, you ask? Well, I was right that I couldn't make my original speed goal. But I wasn't too far behind ... 10K in 49:08. That's a new PR! (personal record) The actual course was a bit longer than 10K, though, so my finishing time (by my watch) was 50:43. I'll check the web site in a day or two for the official results. There will surely be some photos, too, so be sure to check them out!