2024 Virginia Beach 10-miler

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“I’ll have a side of beach with my morning coffee”.

(Unknown)

My Walk into the Future continues to provide me with travel and adventures. These are major reasons I decided to embark on this journey back in 2018. Not sure how long I will chronicle my walk but I’m happy this concept came to me, and I still have content to share. The term ‘Walk’ is there as a reminder to slow down and enjoy what’s coming. There are days when we are in too much of a hurry and sometimes miss out on opportunities to enjoy life and the little things.

Enough on the meaning of the blog title—let’s jump into Virginia Beach! 😊

My first venture to Virginia Beach was for the now defunct Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon. This was one of the premiere race locations on the Rock N Roll running series, but the locals did not like for an outside running organization to come in over the Labor Day weekend and take funds from local running clubs. Not sure if this was a real issue but the Rock N Roll series race in Virginia Beach was canceled the following week. The Rock N Roll press release identified they could not reach future agreements with the city of Virginia Beach and decided not to host an event there anymore. I thought it was a fantastic race location and didn’t know if I would get a chance to run there again.

Well, the J&A Racing organization picked up the pieces and created a Labor Day race weekend that includes a 5K, 10-Miler and kids races with beach concerts. J&A Racing is local, and registration money stays local and helps charities in the Virginia Beach area.

I ran the inaugural 10-miler last year and enjoyed the experience. The course was pretty much the same as the Rock N Roll half minus a few neighborhoods. The 10-mile race is not a standard race distance, but it was a fun experience, and the beach concerts were great. I was lucky last year, and the finish line was half a block from my hotel, so I got a chance to enjoy the beach and music and only had a short walk to my hotel when done.

I am a creature of habit so decided to fly to Virginia Beach on Friday so I could enjoy the area, free live music and great food before race day on Sunday. Most of my readers know I love outlet malls and that was my first stop after picking up my rental car. I didn’t really need anything but made my way to the Nike outlet and picked up new compression shorts. Hit a few other stores but mostly just window shopping and sightseeing.

Made my way to the Virginia Beach Convention Center to pick up my race packet and explore the EXPO. There were a few more vendors at the EXPO this year so did a little bit of shopping—mostly nutrition I would need during the race. Got my customary EXPO photos before heading to the boardwalk and hotel check-in.

Decided to explore the Virginia Beach boardwalk after checking into my hotel. Did not have a specific location in mind but wanted to hit a few bars and find live music. This is very easy considering the number of great bars and restaurants on the boardwalk. Catch 31 is one of my favorite spots on the boardwalk so settled at the outside bar for people watching, beer and live music.

Got up the next morning for a quick shakeout run on the boardwalk. Wanted to stretch out my legs and get a feel for the humidity prior to the 10-miler on Sunday. I was able to get in a 3.4 mile run with pace on the boardwalk. Saw several of the 5k participants heading back to their hotels after completing their race earlier in the morning. Most had smiles on their faces and seemed to have enjoyed the experience. Got in more carb loading and beer drinking after my run. Posted up at the 27 Ocean Bar and Grill to catch the Florida Gators play the Miami Hurricanes. This may have been the worst part of my trip since the Hurricanes completely outclassed the Gators—it’s going to be a long season for the Gators! ☹

Race day started at 5:30 am for me. The 10-miler started at 7 am and the start line was only two blocks away from my hotel. I was able to get my stretch routine in, take my supplements and light jogging completed before the race. Virginia Beach is a friendly place, and crowds were already forming to cheer on runners. A police officer volunteered to take a quick picture for me before the race started—nice people!

I was slotted in Corral #1 for this race—not sure how I got in this corral but was happy to avoid the crowds at the beginning of the race.

I shared with several friends that I wanted to get a personal record (PR) for this race—the goal was to beat last years’ time of 1:36:46. Had designs on 1:30 (one hour thirty minutes) for this race.

First forward—my first mile was 8:40 (eight minutes and 40 seconds) and my tenth mile was 10:10 (10 minutes and 10 seconds). The finish time was: 1:40:06 for a 9:56 per mile pace. Not bad but a bit off from my time last year and not a PR for the 10-mile distance. Still felt good with my training and effort during the race. Made my way to the beach party and started drinking ice cold beers. There were multiple food options to include sandwiches, pizza and cake for something sweet. The music was not as good this year, but they got people up and dancing on the beach. Spent an hour at the after party before heading back to my hotel for my nap.