Mercer Island 10k Race Report

I decided to run the Mercer Island 10k pretty  much the night before the event. I had just raced a 5k the previous weekend and had a full week of running with a couple medium long (12~14) mile runs already. I have built up to a pretty good base so far this year and really should be transitioning to speed work about now. In a way races are speed work though!
This race was run along with a half marathon and a 5k to benefit colon cancer testing and research. I paid the most huge entry ($45) I've ever heard of for a 10k to get in too, but I figured it was for a good cause. The weather was cloudy, a little occasional drizzle, and around 50* for the start. The course is fairly hilly and features road, sidewalk, paved, and unpaved paths, and lots of tight turns including two 180* out and back turnarounds. So it's not a fast course! Since I hadn't tapered for this race and I'd run a race last weekend I really didn't know what to expect for a time. My goal was to go out at a less than breakneck speed and see what the course would give. Since I knew I wouldn't be setting any PRs here I raced a more tactical race - which can be quite fun! I've been practicing passing people such that I don't get passed back. I study the person in front of me to see how they handle the uphills versus the ensuing downhills. Do they slow on the uphill and speed the downhills? Are they fairly steady and even paced over varied terrain?
The big thing with passing other runners is to do so in a commanding fashion. If I just squeek by and stay only a little in front of them I risk them surging and re-passing me. So I pass with authority and keep the pedal down to demoralize them enough that they won't try and re-pass. It works quite well when I can handle it.
Anyway I passed a couple guys in the last half mile or so, and with a 38:57 time I ended up in 11th place overall (out of 725 runners) and 1st in my age group (of 29 total). I must qualify that result with the fact that the 10k was not horribly competitive. Most of the 'fast guys' were either running the half or weren't there. Hey, that's racing! You gotta take what you can get when you can get it!

3 miles warm up, 6.2 miles racing, 3 miles cool down for yesterday.
8 miles easy today (Monday)