Toughest 10k Galveston

Shuttle buses at race start drop off

The second race in the Texas Bridge Series is the Toughest 10k Galveston. This was my second time running this race (and the series). Before we talk about the race we need to touch on logistics. The area around the start/finish is mainly homes in an area with a few businesses. This makes for very little open parking. In previous years runners have had to park along the I-45 feeder and walk into the race creating a very dangerous situation for all involved. This year RAS tried something different. Instead of having runners park at the start they had off site parking and shuttled runners back and forth.  From my hotel I saw the first buses begin rolling in at 5:45 and when I was leaving the hotel at noon the buses were still dropping people back off at their cars. Problem was the process of people moving didn't happen fast enough and in the 45 minutes between when runner were told to start lining up and 40 minutes after the race start time about a dozen buses (and a number of van loads) of people had to be moved. Yes I did just mention that the race started 40 minutes late BUT I am not sure how they could have avoided it. If they started on time half the race field would have been in left in a Target parking lot. That to be would have been a bigger disaster than the late start. 

Dawn over the start line.

What I would recommend is to staying on the island at one of the local hotels. There are not too many close to the start. The one closest is the Howard Johnson Express, which is little more than a roach motel. The drawback to staying there is the trains that run right behind the hotel, all night long. If you can live with that it is a quick walk to the start. On the other side of the freeway the closest hotel is the Springhill Suites. It's 1 1/2 miles to the start line which is a good distance for a warm up run if you are brave enough to tackle the feeder. The staff here is conscious about the fact that runners stay here and started the breakfast 2 hours early allowing runners to grab a little light snack before the race. Another plus this year is that it was about 1/2 mile walk to the shuttle parking lot. There are also a few other hotels on the side of the freeway near the shuttle drop. I was scheduled to run 9 for the day so I braved the feeder both ways. Thing to note about running this stretch of the feeder, the Springhill's freeway exit is the same one people are taking to get the offsite shuttled parking lots so it's really busy for the first 1/4 mile or so then just plain dark. Make sure you bring your reflective gear and a headlamp for safety, I also carried a nearly empty backpack which I stored at the bag drop at the start. The thing I like about their bag drop is that it's not one of those "you can only use our bag" kind of races so whatever you have works best. They also have race day packet pick up which fast and very efficient.

On to the race. The first mile leads you up to a water stop and the start of the bridge. The second mile takes you up and over for the first time. The third mile leads you another water station, on-wards to the turn around point on Tiki Island and then to another water station before you head back out to the bridge. Mile four winds up climbing back up the Causeway. Mile 5 is nice and easy as you come off the bridge back to flat running and the final aid station. By the time you see the flag for mile 6 you can hear the announcer reading off the names of everyone as they cross the finish.  At the finish you get one of the best medals you will every get. This year is had a spinner component. The festivities at the finish include all the food you can stomach, breakfast tacos and pizza as well as bananas and orange slices, sodas, water and ice cold beer. I did well this year, besting my previous finish time for this race by almost 2 minutes.

Coming up next week is a double running weekend. I an running the Raintree Village 5k with my daughters on Saturday and then Sunday I am working bag drop as well as running the Houston Half. If you will also be there be sure to come by and say "Hi."

Marathon training is certainly not on hold but it feel like it resumes again November 1st,