MY FIRST SUB-1 HOUR 10K!

Thanksgiving Day, I visited Cincinnati to participate in the historic 100th Annual Thanksgiving Day 10K Race. The weather was nearly perfect, with temperatures in the upper 30s and lower 40s and only an occasional gust of wind. The course was fairly flat, hills were mainly on the two bridges crossing the Ohio River. With over 17,000 registered runners, this was the second-largest 10K race I've run, eclipsed only by the the 30,000-plus runners at the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond, VA early this year.

I was mired in slower traffic at the start of the race, but the Garmin 405 Forerunner GPS watch that I purchased at REI in Missoula, MT kept me apprised of my pace status. I wore the fracture shoe on my right foot just in case, but I think I can discard it now.

It was great to revisit this race thirty years after I'd last competed in it. My son ran the first few miles with me, but my pace was faster than he cared to run, so I had to move on. Normally, I would have just stayed with him, but I really wanted a sub-60 minute finish.