Steven Latimer

This morning I "ran" in the Ukrop's 10K in Richmond. I put scarequotes around ran because I ran the first mile or two, then walked at a reasonably fast clip, and then turned on the heat when I felt better at mile 5. I then ran to the finish line! A 10K is a little over 6.2 miles.

I must admit that I signed up on a whim back in February because the brochure made it look fun. And fun it was! There were porto-potties along the way, rock bands, Richmonders cheering, and several water stops. It was like a moving block party with 30,000 happy people in it. It was easier than I thought.

I had to use the bathroom twice (bathroom really belongs in quotes here as well) and got water several times. I also had to fart while running, which was actually kind of fun :-)

It rained moderately hard most of the time, but toward the end the sun started to come out.

We had to wear a really cool timing chip on our shoe called the "Champion Chip" to get our time. My unofficial time was 1 hour, 19 minutes, and 45 seconds (v about 4.6 mph).

The entry fee was 30 dollars, which gets you the t-shirt, race bib, use of the timing device, water, use of porto-potties, and admittance to the post-race party in Monroe Park. The post-race party had bands, plenty of food (bagels, apples, bananas, chocolate milk, bottled water, chips and dip, etc).

I saw a few friends of mine along the way, either in the race, or on the sidelines. There were participants in costumes. I saw a turtle, matadors with a bull, a banana, a doctor "chasing" a mental patient, just to name a few. This is a tradition, because whoever wears the best costume gets a prize from the Times-Dispatch.

If I can find a picture of me, I'll post it here.