Fast people!

When the Granville Ambulance Chase & Food Truck Rodeo Facebook page read and ignored my message of a few simple questions, I had moved on, until I noticed the unusual start time of 11:00 AM in Oxford, North Carolina, a 45-minute drive, that would allow me to sleep in as well as a relatively low cost for an event that offers a T-shirt and a medal (to most). I decided to consider the race, on March 15, 2025, the day after my birthday, if I woke up unprompted by an alarm with sufficient time to make it to the site, which I did. I would have driven to run either way, so I figured why not and registered and headed out.

PC: Granville Ambulance Chase

Overall winners!

One of the unanswered questions concerned the elevation profile, as I only thought about another short race to put to the test my recent consistent increase in speed; had I known about the extent of these hills earlier, I may have opted out. When I asked around, many warned me about the hills for the 10K, but without a number, “hilly” is subjective and I remained in suspense. My now-obsolete COROS Pace 2 would not lock in my heart rate for several minutes leading up to the start, making me nervous about pressing the go button anyway. After logging the first mile just under 8:06 and feeling strong, I ambitiously hoped for an unrealistic result before encountering nonstop rolling hills and frequent extensive downhill running for the first couple of miles, anxious about the inevitable climb back up and slowing down. Halfway through, I began dealing with stomach cramps that never fully went away, and I shifted my focus to closing each mile comfortably under 9:00, which I managed. Considering the conditions, I am content with a 53:36 gun-time finish and third place in my age group. Based on how I felt prior to the ceaseless climbs, I am confident I could have run roughly 20 seconds per mile faster had the course been what I expected coming in, flat, silly on my part since no such place exists in my vicininty.