Similarly to the race the night before, this race was HOT HOT HOT! The photos are very misleading. There were gorgeous blue skies but the air was definitely heavy and dewy.
The 10K was a point-to-point course. It required a bus ride to the start line. Thankfully my group stayed at a hotel near the bus pickup area (a total coincidence). Half marathoners had an early call time — very Disney-esque — of around 3:30am. Their race would start at 6:00am, but the last bus to leave was 5:00am. My husband got up early for his pre-race routine and then left for his half marathon almost 90 minutes before I left. The 10K started at 7:00am, which made for an easy race morning for me.
The bus ride was fairly short, and wound through some old neighborhoods in Provo. It dropped us off in a church parking lot. The race start had plenty of porta-potties and water. Folks were clustered in groups, I assume with folks they traveled with. I found a few start line buddies who were also nuun ambassadors, so we chatted quite a bit about 2020 and our upcoming race schedules. It was really nice reconnecting with folks!
The 10K race started with a pretty quiet countdown (since we were in a residential neighborhood). We went straight for a bit through the residential neighborhood, made a hairpin turn, and then ran the entire way to the finish line. It was literally a straight line! It was a net downhill, but in the heat it didn’t really felt like it would matter much. If you like running in the city, this race is definitely the one for you.
The finisher chute was a bit compact. I forgot to pack a small bag with me to make it easier to carry snacks at the finish line. Each vendor had a small 10’x10′ tent and they were pretty much stacked next to one another. I would recommend stowing away a small shopping bag in your hydration packs for this finish line! They had some pretty tasty goodies…the most memorable ones were the cinnamon buns and the smoothies. They are all fairly small though, so don’t expect to fill up š
There are post-race shuttles that take you back to the pick up point in the morning. There should be plenty of time for folks to grab a bus since they stop running at 12:30. That’s a 6.5 hour finish time for 13.1/26.2. Might be a tight squeeze for full marathoners depending on pace! Definitely plenty of time for 10K runners to linger, cool off, and then hop on the bus.
Amara in Training 