Tri Events LA Triathlon Series 10k Race Report

Last Saturday I ran the Tri Events LA Triathlon Series 10k! It’s my second time running this event (here’s my 10k race report from last October). The LA Triathlon Series is the longest running triathlon series in Southern California, having put on races for 37 years. It’s a family affair, started by a gentleman named Bill Fulton and passed on to his daughter Carolyn Wolk, who now partners with her husband, to manage the event. 

Last weekend I completed the Tri Events 10k! Or, actually, I mean I won the Tri Events 10k! Yes, I did! Here's my 10k race report! #running #10k #runningcoachescornerClick To Tweet

Tri Events LA Triathlon Series 10k Race Report

Alan has been working with the Wolks for about five years as their race announcer. They actually put on four triathlons a year at Bonelli Park, which is in San Dimas, CA. Since I’m not a triathlete I was really excited when they added a standalone 5k and 10k last year. It was pretty small last October and I hope that it will grow (and maybe someday earn its own dedicated race medals!). Based on this event, though, that hasn’t happened yet.

Bonelli Park is beautiful. It has a lake, lots of green areas, trees, and running paths. If that sounds just normal to you, remember that I live in the California desert. Lakes and greenery are rare around here.

Alan and I drove to San Dimas on Friday afternoon. It’s actually only about an hour and a half away, but he needs to be on the job by about 5:30 so the race puts us up at a local hotel. We had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant we always go to when we’re there. They have a vegetarian menu and make it easy to order our food vegan.

Although my race didn’t start until 8:45, I got up with Alan and drove to the venue at 5:30. I suppose I could go back to the hotel, but as the announcer, he gets prime parking and I really don’t like to hassle with that if I come in later. So, I hang out for a few hours. It goes faster than you think. The weather was looking like it would be perfect, if a bit warm as the day went on. Much better than the thunderstorms that were predicted a few days before!

Tri Events 10k Race Report

The triathlon waves start at 8:00, so when my race starts none of the athletes are out on the run course yet. When I headed to the start line I was a little surprised (and sad) to see that there was only one other runner. As I said, I want this race to grow so that they will keep it around! Oh well, a race is a race and I was determined to have fun and at least use it as a speed workout.

We started on time and were off. The course itself was the same as last year, but they flipped it, which I found that I preferred. As we started out, the other runner started to pull ahead of me (no surprise since she was about 30 years younger!), but when we came to a slight fork in the path after about a quarter mile, she was confused and let me catch up. It was clearly marked, which I pointed out, and told her about the arrows which were taped to the ground. She said, “I’ll follow you.” Maybe she did, but I never saw her again. That’s when I posted to my Instagram stories that I was going to win this race.

I really did intend to use this race as a tempo run, so I ran the first mile as a warm up. It was fairly flat with a few uphills so that it wasn’t too hard to keep it slow. Of course, having no competitors helped too. After I hit the first mile I picked up the effort a bit.  It was about this time that the first of the Sprint triathlon athletes started to catch up and pass me. It’s kind of fun, actually, to see the best runners go by. Then I passed the Sprint turnaround and I was alone again.

I was feeling pretty good at my pace, which was probably just under my usual 10k pace (partly helped by taking several more quick videos and uploading them to my IG stories!). The road was well marked and quite pretty. There were two water stations along the way and I passed each twice, so there was plenty of fluids to drink. There was actually one right at the beginning of the run too, but I skipped that. Nice for the triathletes, though.

At about mile three the route turns off onto trails.  They call it the “jungle” because it does have quite a wilderness feel (even though there is an airport right on the other side). This was the only part that wasn’t as clearly marked and I panicked myself a bit hoping I hadn’t missed a sign. I was still alone and I just kept running straight ahead. I needn’t have worried though since the actual turnaround was quite clear.

At this point, I was at around mile four and I was heading back toward the finish line. It was about at this time that I saw the lead Olympic distance runners coming at me. I just hoped they didn’t cover their miles so fast that they caught up with me before the finish!

I was looking forward to the last mile or so because, since the course was reversed, I knew that I’d be running along the lake to the finish. It didn’t disappoint. It’s very pretty, partially shaded, and, best of all, mostly downhill. There were more runners now, the Sprint distance runners finishing their 5k. I could actually hear Alan since there is a little curve in the lake (if that makes sense), where you pass the finish area across a little bay. I was almost home!

I’ve told you before how cool it is when Alan announces my finish. He seems to add a little more every time! Well, this time I got it on tape! It’s a little jumpy (because I was running so fast lol) but here it is:

And yes, as predicted, I won the race. Overall. Now I’ve run a couple of races in my life (years ago), but generally the first woman not overall. Yes, I didn’t have any competitors, but what the heck, right? I finished in just under an hour, in spite of posting several videos to my IG stories along the way and not even having random triathletes to push me along.

The Tri Events 10k is really a fun event and I hope that it will grow, even if it means that I won’t win next time. 

As a side note, when I got home I found this very sweet Mother’s Day gift sent by Road ID! As you know, I’m a member of Team Road ID and I’m happy that they’re looking out for me. And I’m looking out for you! You can save 20% on your Road ID purchase when you use this link.

 

 

 

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