One month from today, I will be running in my hometown of Pasadena, CA! I officially registered for the race yesterday after hearing that the 10K had only 300 spots left. Unlike the runDisney events, which show how close a race is getting to selling out, this race doesn’t. As I was targeting this race to be one I’d run for time, I made sure that I didn’t get left out.

I’m actually pretty excited about this particular race. Last year, I ran the 5K and PR’d! It still stands as my fastest 5K. With the way my training is going, I’m hoping that I can PR the 10K race in Pasadena this year. In order to do that, I need to beat finishing in 1 hour, 16 minutes, 30 seconds (12 minute, 14 second per mile average). I did that in a training run three days before my first 10K race. Given that, this past Saturday, I had a faster average pace over 5 miles, I feel I’m on track to PR this 10K. Also, I still have a month to prepare.

The race course will be a bit of a challenge as the first half of the race is pretty much all uphill. However, if I hold on, the second half does the reverse. This is an out and back course along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. If you’ve seen the Rose Parade, you’ve seen a little bit of the ground which I’ll be running over. The race starts and ends at Pasadena City College. Last year, the course was different. However, the folks at the Pasadena Marathon put on a good race. It’s not as fun as Disney. However, for a local race, I really liked it. This race is in its fifth year. Although, this year, they were denied the ability to put on a full marathon. So, there will only be a half marathon, 10K, and 5K, with several kids races as well.

If you’re in town and want to be apart of this event, register soon as I’m told spots are filling fast. Check out the web site for the Pasadena Marathon for more details.