I agreed to run the WeSpark 10K so I could test-run the course - As a volunteer for the Center for Assault and Treatment Services, we have our Victory for Victims race in Balboa Park too and wanted to see what our course options are. I am amazed at how big this park is, all the hidden hills and valleys (figuratively speaking) -- beautiful wilderness, bridges, soccer fields, wildlife. We are truly fortunate to have such an oasis in the middle of the San Fernando Valley.
I was at the WeSpark inaugural event last year - I passed out Victory 4 Victims postcards to people and slipped them under car windshield wipers. That was a small race. Really small. Neighborhood small. Sunday's race easily had 3 times the amount of people from last year. Also, there were Students Run LA (SRLA) everywhere. Turns out that they had their own 15K race.
We considered cooperating with SRLA for Victims 4 Victims, but the truth is that they don't pay for registration, and don't raise money for the charity. It would be nice for these kids to do some fundraising for these races - fundraising/sales is a pretty good life skill, I think.
The weather was dry Sunday. Running through parts of Balboa Park is like running through a desert - it's dusty and vacant, then the landscape changes and I'm surrounded by cut grass and gurgling river beds. It would have been nice to have a water station after mile 1, but there wasn't anything until mile 2. That sure tasted good.
I was very happy with my time, 1:06. Turns out I placed 9 in my division! Going to these relatively small races boosts my runner's ego- the less people in my division, the higher up I place.
16 miles this weekend.
Happy running!
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