The Tar Heel 10 Miler & 4 Mile Run

FINISHER! Woo hoo, I can’t tell you how happy, relived and excited I was to cross the Tar Heel 10 Miler finish line and put that shiny medal around my neck; I DID IT! What you should know about me: I was a collegiate athlete (crew) so I know what it means to train and train hard, I haven’t done much since college other then a handful of 5K’s and YMCA workouts. I started training for this race one month in advance after a friend (Katherine L.!) had an extra entry, at that point I was running indoors about 3 – 5 miles at a time. I started training hardcore once I had decided to race, following the Hal Higdon 15K plan. I trained on the American Tobacco Trail, Al Buehler Cross Country Trail, Duke Forest, Duke East Campus and of course indoors at Durham’s YMCA. Before race day, my longest run at 7 miles before tapering. This was also my first LONG race.
As far as pre-​race information, the weekly e-​mails that were sent out were very helpful. Everything from parking information to reminders about race bib pick-​up, etc. was included and the week before the race coupons to various vendors and races were sent out. Bib pick-​up was located at University Mall (technically in Chapel Hill, but convenient to Durham) between 11am-​7pm. At an additional cost, you could pick up your bib at another time. Bib pick-​up was fast, I was impressed by how well it was organized, and there were plenty of vendors around if you wanted to peruse a bit, I was even able to pick-​up an extra t-​shirt from the previous year for $ 5.
Which brings me to the actual race… parking was a bit tiresome, but honestly, they did a great job warning people of this, giving them routes to take and times they should arrive. We left Durham at 6am and were parked by 6:45am or so. The 4 mile race began at 7:20am while 10 mile began right on time at 7:30am. When you’re running with 4000+ people, you feel some empowerment. It’s nice because you don’t kill yourself right out the gate (you can’t because it’s too crowded). Things start to get less congested about a mile into the race and you’re running ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ sun to shade and mostly flat with some slight hills until about mile 8.25. One of the best moments for me was running up Franklin Street, there are people running as far as you can see, and it’s just the greatest feeling. Laurel Hill hits right after mile 8; I’d heard tales and really expected the worst. While it’s not a fun hill, it definitely wasn’t as bad as I thought, just keep tell yourself you’ve already got less then two miles and don’t stop running! They also time you for the duration of the hill separately. There is also one other «steeper» incline right at the end going back toward the stadium, be warned.
Most of the race takes place through neighborhoods in Chapel Hill, so you have families, volunteers, etc. cheering for you the whole way and they’ve got four or five water/​goo stations, about every two miles or so. I really hope they get more volunteers at the water tables, it definitely slowed you down if you wanted water. Also, they should get some more bathrooms next year, I personally didn’t need one, but felt really terrible for five or six people deep lines in front of every bathroom I passed on the course! Once you cross the finish line you are corralled into the stadium where you receive WATER, your medal (a magnet too this year!) and your pick of bananas, bagels, pretzels and gummy bears. There’s more vendors inside the stadium and lots of room to stretch on the bleachers. I would definitely run this race again!