Guarda Firenze 2010 10K

Well, I ran in my last race in Florence before going back home for the summer. It was a local 10K non-competitive race. The race itself was open to everyone and was setup to help promote health and fitness for young people and to basically get the community of Florence together in activity.

I knew the race was approaching but had sort of forgotten about it. Then Friday May 7th I happened to look on the Firenze Marathon website where they list local runs and saw that the 7th was the last day to register. So, I threw on some clothes and headed out to register. I went to the closest sports store to register only to find that so many people were interested that they ran out of registration forms. I then had to walk a couple miles to another store (in the rain) where thankfully they still had some. I got my race number and information packet and was all set for the 10K in two days.

I researched the race map and saw that the course was going to be tough. Thankfully I had run the area a couple times but it is pretty brutal if you aren’t used to running hills. I definitely am not trained in hill running and need to work on that for future races.

Anyhow, race day was completely chaotic! We were supposed to be able to pick up our race shirts the morning of the race at 8 am, however, they didn’t have them ready so we had to wait until after the race. When we arrived to Piazza del Duomo there were people everywhere. On top of the main event which was the 10K they also a course designed for kids and another course for walkers. There were basically three starting points in the Piazza and no one seemed to know where to go. Everyone was mixing in with each other and there were thousands of people there. The 10K started at 9:30am and like I said, at the gate there was everyone mixed in, people were in their wrong area etc. People were crammed in the Partenza area and then the gun sounded you could barely move. I am NOT an aggressive runner, in the sense that I don’t like to push and shove. This particular race was FULL of these aggressive runners.

It wasn’t a competitive race so they weren’t giving out prizes and they weren’t really keeping track of time so there wasn’t really a need to push everyone especially since it was a personal test. If you had your own stopwatch you would be able to see how you did. However, once the race started you were pushed along. I was basically running in place for the 1st 2km. It was so packed. As we were crossing Ponte Vecchio I saw a small boy trip and because we were so close to each other, about 3-4 people fell on top of him. Then some runners came by me elbowing there way through the thick crowd. It was sort of scary! You have to be careful running on those old cobblestones as it is, its much scarier if you have to worry about someone pushing you down.

So, until the 2nd km I couldn’t really get off to my running pace and after the 2nd km started the really fun part, complete up hill. It was a gradual, steady incline from km2 to km6! It really kicked my butt. My calves were feeling it. I was able to make up a little bit of time on this part of the course but not much. There were just a few dips in the hills and I would run as fast as I could and tried to catch up. After km 6 it went downhill to km7 and I was able to make up a lot of time. At km7 the course leveled out until the end back at the Duomo.

This was the first race where I didn’t have a whole lot left in me by the end. I was able to kick it in a little bit at km9 until the finish line but not near as much as past races. I was mentally and physically exhausted. Then the worst thing happened. At the end of the race, you basically slammed into a brick wall! Everyone who finished was stopped immediately and you had to stand in a crowded line in order to pass through the gates. They were handing out little cards to say you completed the race and it was terrible. I had just finished, I was hot, sweaty, and thirsty and now I had to stand in a cattle call for about 15 minutes. It was gross, people rubbing up on me with their sweaty bodies! YUCK! So after you passed through this line, you moved into another crowded line where you had to pick up your race shirt. That took another good 15mins. Then I finally found Maurizio who was waiting with some drinks for me. It was absolutely insane. But all in all it was a pretty good race. I ended up finishing in 58:18, which was really slow, but considering everything I was okay with it. It was still a lot of fun and another really good experience of Florence.

In the video below you can see some of the people at the gate and finishing the race as well as the entertainment of the old fashioned flag throwers dressed in the old time clothes. They usually are present for city events.