Race Recap | Davis Labor Day 10K

I ran another 10K race last week on Monday. The Davis Moo-nlight Run is a tradition by now, but this was the first time I participated in the Davis Labor Day Run. It’s organized by the same local organizer, A Change of Pace, who partners with Cancer Champions, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting cancer survivors through custom fitness, nutrition, and mindset programming. 

If I am being honest, I only signed up because it was an opportunity to get the third medal (for 2nd place in the Sacramento Residents Division) from the Davis Moo-nlight Run, that I had forgotten to pick up after the race in July, but it was ALSO a great excuse to run another race, not least because I love running races in Davis. (As I probably have mentioned somewhere previously, I attended UC Davis for my exchange semester in College and I always like to return there. It’s such a cute university town, and the race course often follows the green belt that weaves through the neighborhoods. It’s just a great place to run.

I had to leave my house at 6:45 am and luckily there was no traffic and it only took me 20 minutes to get there. There was plenty of free parking in the downtown area close to the start line. I had ample time to pick up my bib, use the port-a-potties and warm up a little. It was a beautiful sunny morning with a light breeze and 66F/18C.

The 10k started at 8 am sharp. The start line was in Downtown Davis at Central Park, but we quickly left the downtown streets and continued onto the Putah Creek Greenbelt trail. It was nice and shady there and the crowd dispersed quickly, so I could run at my own pace. There’s nothing more annoying than a “stomping” runner next to me to mess up my rhythm. Haha. It always reminds me of Matt Wilpers’ advice to “run tall and light with a quick cadence”. Definitely something to practice in training. 

The best part of this race: I had my virtual cheer squad in my pocket again. I have mentioned before that the Adidas Running App (it’s free!) lets people track your race and, more importantly, they can send you “cheers” and encouraging voice messages along the way. It’s the next best thing to having people cheer for you from the actual sidelines, and the only way family and friends can “be there” from afar. Tanja, my mom and my cousin all sent me dozens of messages of encouragement along the way and they all carried me across the finish line. 

I had no real goal. My training plan suggested a 6-mile easy run for today – which obviously wasn’t going to happen. I wanted to have fun, first and foremost, but I was also going to push myself a little bit and see how things go… and go they did. I felt good throughout the whole race and was able to hold a pretty steady pace (as I do). 

The Moo-nlight Run had a turnout of 1300 people, the Labor Day Run was significantly smaller with 700 participants, so it’s definitely easier to win an award, but I am also pretty happy with my performance. I finished 1st place in my age group (1/22), 8th in my gender group (8/124), and 44th overall (44/242). Not too shabby, if you ask me. I got three medals.

Oh, and did I mention that the race photos were free? I am thrilled there were a couple of good shots (not always the case).  

Also, I want to be this lady when I am 80+ years old.