Brisbane Marathon Festival - 10k

Another week, another race. After last week's Ipswich disaster, I was not confident at how I would go this week. My goal time was 1.05min. Afterall, if I can run a super hilly course in 1.06min, surely I can do 1min better?
I knew I wouldn't do well this race. At least, not a pb, so I planned to jog to the start line to get in a bit of distance, at the least.
But yesterday morning I woke up and felt just a little bit stiff after yesterday's double run (triple run, if you count the break I had while at the markets before running on). So I took transit instead.
I have a pattern for races. The important races I like to arrive about 1hour before the start time. I know that seems early for some, but 1hour gives me "running late" time, "bathroom line-up" time, and "warm-up" time without feeling any stress or pressure. For the smaller races? Anytime around 30min before is fine with me.
I started with my Galeforce Running Squad friends. It's always encouraging to start with people you know!
As we wound our way through the city, I kept an easy pace. I was worried that - as has happened the past two 10k races I've run - I would start fast, burn out around the 4k mark, and flail my way through the next 5k to finish at a not-so-good time.
At the 4k mark I was feeling good, but still held back. I started passing fellow squad members who were out marshalling the course. None of them offered to let me cheat by cutting the course short, but that's okay. It was still awesome to have people I knew cheering me on through that back half of the course.
At the 5k mark I decided I might as well go for it, so I picked up the pace - just a little - with the intention to pick it up a little bit more each km.
And thus I started out at around a 6.00 pace and finished off at a 5.20 pace. Awesome!

Total time: 58.44
Total distance: 9.90km (it might have been 10km. The garmin watches aren't perfect, afterall)
Total elevation: 429m
Average pace: 5.54min/km


Interestingly, I see that this race had more elevation gain than Ipswich did last week. Unreliable watch, or a ridiculously massive increase in fitness after 1 week of training? Who knows!

Post-race breakfast was on the menu with my fellow runners. It was delightful that almost everyone was pretty happy with their times - especially one friend who posted a 10min pb on his half marathon time. 10 MINUTES. That's running 30sec faster on every single km!
After breakfast I decided to jog home. It was along the marathon track, too! So, although I felt a bit silly, I ran the whole way shouting encouragement to passing marathoners. After all, if it were me running 42.195km, any encouragement would be appreciated. I was surprised at how many responded with a kind word and a smile or thumbs up considering they were going on 37km at the time.

Total time: 28.02
Total distance: 4.34km
Elevation: 202m
Average pace: 6.27min/km

ps - photos are at the finish line of fellow Galeforce Squad members and inspiring runners.