This is the first weekend in history in which I've doubled up on races. There are quite a few rather accomplished local runners who do the same quite regularly. Though I don't plan on doing it often, this was one weekend where I wanted to run in both the Turek House 5K and the Rockville 10K. This weekend has shown me that I may need to be more selective in my races next year if I want good competition.
I race for two reasons, to run an all out effort on a marked/accurate course, and to race other runners. I love to compete against people of similar ability to me. Up until this year, finding races was never a problem. I could pretty much enter any race and have competition. However, I'm slowly moving up in the field and a lot of the smaller local races are not cutting it anymore.
I still enjoy racing often, so I can't exclusively sign up for big expensive races. I also despise the logistical nightmare that is large races. There is something so satisfying about just showing up, parking, using your car as a base, and running without having to stand around for hours on end. I think all of this is still possible, I just need to take a careful look at available races, and be willing to drive just a bit further.
Overall, I think this a good problem to have. I have always said I would rather finish last, run a PR, and have a great race with people than just win small local races (while blowing away the field) all the time.
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