Run thru Hell on Halloween 10k Race Recap

Official Stats:

Run thru Hell on Halloween - 10k

Chip Time: 55:31

Division Place: 19 / 60

Pace: 8:57

Pre-Race - At dark o'thirty Spike and I headed over to Sun Runner's house to gather her and the Engineer before heading over to Hell. It was en route that I realized that I had forgotten my Garmin so things were off to a great start. Upon arrival we saw/harassed Coach Ken directing traffic and then parked, gathered up our race gear and waited as long as possible in the car to avoid the freezing cold. It was a balmy 32* out and this Redhead also forgot to wear her racing sleeves. About 10 minutes to race time we hit the bathroom once last time and headed over to the VERY crowded Start where we learned that they were going to delay the race 15 minutes to allow the people trapped in traffic time to get there. Did I mention how cold it was?! Oh well that gave us time to take some pre-race pics and for Sun Runner and I to finally document a run together! LOL!

Zoinks! It's Velma & Daphne!

I will not even begin to try to explain Spike's costume, you'll have to read his race recap HERE.

Start to 5k - There ended up being over 3,100 runners for this event and if you know anything at all about Hell, MI it's that there isn't a whole lot of room for so many runners so any thoughts of racing went out the window! It took us a few minutes to get across the Start mat and from there until at least Mile 2 it was wall to wall runners... and hills. Just by complete chance alone I found myself running next to a friend from high school, Christina and got to say hi. Shortly thereafter Sun Runner informed us that our first mile took 10:40! We split off from the 5k'ers just after that but the field was still pretty thick as this was run on a country dirt road out in the middle of nowhere. Farm houses, fields and swamps for miles around. I kept my mind off my freezing fingers and toes by checking out the scenery, laughing at all the fun costumes and being amazed at how none of the dogs we passed in front of their houses barked but instead stood there like this was a regular occurrence! At about mile 2.75 Spike lapped past us with the rest of the fasties as we headed into the half-way mark.

The cluster heading into the hills in Mile 1

Hills of Hell - This elevation map does not do them justice!

5k to Finish - Just after the turn around I lost Sun Runner in the crowd and decided to just go ahead and step it up a notch. As I dodged and weaved thru the runner's I again saw my friend Christina heading in to the turn around and gave her a quick yell of encouragement. Seeing the rest of the costumed runner's heading in to the turn around really made the time fly and anytime I saw a Scooby I'd yell "Zoinks!" LOL! Just after mile 4 the hills started back up again and as the Engineer and I got closer and closer to the Finish we picked off runners left and right. In the final stretch only one other runner passed us as we finally crested the last hill and sped down to the Finish. Gotta love those downhill Finishes and negative split races!

Post Race - After we collected one and all we stopped off at the official Hell, Michigan tourist trap before heading back to Sun Runner's for some excellent brunch of blueberry pancakes! Thanks Sun Runner!!!

Post Race Thoughts - I loved this race, not only for the fact that I can now say that I've "ran thru hell and back" but because the entire Mid-Michigan running community came together and the race proceeds went towards funding a wheel-chair accessible minivan for a retired local runner named Dolores who used to be extremely active within the community and used to host the "Run thru Hell" races. The course itself was excellent for hill training and I honestly enjoyed the challenge. To end I just can't say enough how much fun I had at this race. I felt good, I felt strong, and while it was no distance PR it was surely a FUN run PR!

Our pumpkins... can you guess which were carved by whom?

I hope y'all had a Spooktacular Halloween!!!
Big shout out of congrats to all the MCM runners! Congrats!!!