On Sunday, July 13th, I ran in the Suck It Up Buttercup 10k in Deland, FL. The race is put on by File Mile Race Management out of Volusia County. There was also a 5k option, but myself and most of my running girls opted for the 6.2 miles. On the course however, we did have moments where we questioned our choice of race distance. 🙂
The race began at the Deland Country Club and contained far more hills than I ever knew existed in Florida. I mean heck, Florida is flat, right? Well, obviously we have those areas with hidden hills just like where this race took place. Made me realize that our little “hill” workouts that we have once a month or so, are a joke compared to this race.
The start set off a few minutes after 6:30am and I ran it with some of my running group. At first, we set our gymboss timers for 45 second runs and 30 second walks, but soon changed our tune on that and swapped the run and walk intervals. The more we ran, the harder the hills and course seemed to become. So much for thinking this would be a course with “a bit of hills.” Per the race website, “July in Florida…Hills in Florida! Are you tough enough?” and let me tell you, they are right!
Some of those crazy hills made you wish their was a rope to help you make your way up it, which made even the coming down off that elevation a challenge. I did experience some tightness in my calves a few times and even right above my left ankle, but things seemed to calm down by the finish.
What made this race fun was running it with my friends. We joked and teased each other through those ups and downs which made the time and miles fly by. I am always thankful to run with anyone from my group at races, it really does make the experience so much better and more memorable.
Since I ran just under 6 miles easy the say prior, I knew I wouldn’t be getting any kind of PR on this 10k. Even if I thought I might, those crazy hills would have told me otherwise. I ended up finishing the race in 1:26:47. That’s a 13:57 pace per mile average. For what the course was, I’m happy with that time. It’s about my 4th best time for a 10k, and for what the race course was, hey I think that’s good.
The course itself less for those hills was good. The spectators/volunteers out there were great. They really could have used at least one more water stop along the way though, as it’s quite hot and humid in July. Also, they ran out of 10k medals by the time I finished as well as my friends. We were offered the 5k medal and told they would mail us the correct medal later. While I understand things happen, you’d think they would know how many 10k medals they needed for race day. Having run the 10k, I wasn’t interested in accepting a medal for half that distance. I’ve since contacted the Race Director and am waiting for my 10k medal.
Will I run the Suck It Up Buttercup 5k or 10k in 2015? I don’t know, I do kind of like the challenge it posed. But, I would hope that they would be better with the water stops on the course next time and especially not run out of medals. So, I suppose that decision is up in the air for now.
That’s terrible about the medals…I’d wait for the right one too! I love the name of this race 🙂