Saturday's Lawyers Have Heart 10K was a fun, but very hot race.

What I think I liked most about it was that it was held in a different part of town than where most races happen. It was an out and back course that started down near the Georgetown Waterfront, took you up on the Whitehurst Freeway before dropping you onto the very nicely shaded Canal Road.

Of all the many races I have done in DC, this was my very first time racing in that part of town, and I really enjoyed it.

For such a hot day, the shade on Canal Road was extremely welcome.

It's fair to say that I hate racing in the heat. I never perform well and in general it's just miserable the whole time. But I thought the race organizers did a nice job to help runners deal with the heat.

They had two traditional aid stations with water and one of them was also handing out sponges soaked in ice water. Squeezing ice cold water down your head and back provided a little bit of nice relief from the heat.

I finished in 56:54, about 40 seconds off my PR, but given the heat, it was a time I was happy with.

You might remember this was also my friend Lauren's very first race ever and I was so excited she was running.


Since the course was an out and back, I got to see her a little bit after the turn around point and she was still looking pretty solid though she definitely told me she hated me a lot right at the moment. I don't blame her, I hated myself a little bit at the point for picking a race on such a warm day. Whoops!

By the time she got to the finish line she was smiling and running strong. Wish I would have gotten a picture of her finishing!

After the race we collected our medals (yes, medals at a 10K), and grabbed some snow cones to cool down.


And then I spent the rest of the day at my friend's pool, which I think is the most appropriate way to celebrate completing a hot race!