Dash for Organ Donation 10K

Today was my first race since the Boston Bombings on Monday.  It’s hard to believe the amount of emotion and terror Boston’s been through since Monday, quite frankly it’s all difficult to wrap my head around.  On Thursday, I found the Dash for Organ Donation 5K/10K online and decided to sign up.  I’m an organ donor myself and have been contacted about being a possible bone marrow donor myself, so this race was for a cause close to me.  I was able to pick up my bib and shirt yesterday at the Gift of Life Program House in downtown Philly and by the grace of the parking gods, they have their own parking lot, so no battling street parking to try and find a spot on the street.

This morning, I was up by 8 and out of my apartment by 8:45.  Even though the 10K didn’t start until 9:40, the 5K started at 9:25 and given that 1/2 of the Kelly Drive Loop is shut down on the weekends now and the strong possibility of the Regatta going on on the opposite side, I was figuring I’d be fighting for parking over by the Art Museum.  I pulled into the free 2 hr parking and thankfully the parking gods liked me 2 days in a row and someone was leaving which left me their spot!  I hung out for a little bit in Lloyd Hall and then headed over to where all the activities were going on for the Dash.  It was so encouraging to see so many people out.  I counted about 20-30 teams out supporting people who’ve been donors or received organ donations.

The couse itself was an out and back course on Kelly Drive.  After last week’s blah 10K race on the hills of KS (which never hit the blog due to travel and Boston), this race was so appreciated.  I love me some flatness!!  The first 5K, I ran in 27:44 (the 10K winners were somewhere close to the finish at that point).  On the way out people were hootin’ and hollerin’ at friends running the 5K which is always good to see and it was the same on the way back for 10Kers who hadn’t hit the turn around.  The second half of Kelly Drive gave me a time of 27:57 (at least I’m consistent!) with an overall time of 55:41.  By the time I finished, the 3K walkers were lining up and you saw a lot of teams coming for the 3K.

The nice thing about today was the weather.  Although a little chilly, it warmed up and the sun was out.  We were all subconsciously running for the 617!  The only downside is that the 5K racers started before the 10K racers.  I feel like it should be the other way around since the 10Kers will take longer to run.  Other than that, race is very well run and something we all needed.  If you’re looking for results, head over here to find them.

**Side note, if you’re looking for Boston Strong shirts, head to City Sports for their BOSTRONG shirts.  They’re $10 each with all proceeds benefiting The One Fund to help victims of the Boston Marathon Bombings**