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It is finally time for the annual Big Ten 10k race. If you signed up for the 10k or the 5k run or walk, then this is the right story to open for you. To start the festivities of the week, I will let Captain Kirk lead off with his Grand Marshal pep talk first:
Tomorrow kicks-off the 2020 BTN Big 10K’s Race Week and our Grand Marshal has a special pre-race pep talk for all of the Participants!
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) July 25, 2020
Thank you for being part of the first-ever virtual BTN Big 10K!
Have a great race and be sure to post your pictures and tag us at #BTNBig10K! pic.twitter.com/6ffiPwJUVw
As you are all aware by now, with the COVID-19 pandemic the annual race event has gone virtual this year. Given the ability to run or walk the event wherever you are located the Illinois fan base has finally been vanquished from the top of the participants chart. For the first time since the event’s inception the Illini came all the way back in fourth place this year. Finishing at the top of the participant chart instead is our own fanbase. So three cheers for coming in at the top of the chart this season:
If you are one of the participants, feel free to let us know throughout the week when you complete your race. If you use a run tracker, drop a screenshot in the comments if you’d like. Let us know your bib number if you want, your finishing time, or just simply share you finished and survived the heat. I was thinking of trying to knock it out today myself, but pushed it back after seeing the heat index for today. When I do finish I’ll run an update on the article with my own brief recap, and maybe a scenic picture or two of the National Mall where I plan to run mine.
See how your school ranked in the final 2020 Virtual BTN Big 10K Leaderboard! #BTNBIG10K pic.twitter.com/BMVtaJvMwA
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) July 13, 2020
In the meantime, Go Green!
5K Race Is Done
It’s been a long time since I lasted my first two weeks of college as a walk-on with the Cross Country team, and that is also around the last time I ran a full 5K outdoors (or probably at all, honestly). Given I gave myself next to zero training for this I am fairly happy with my time, even if high school me would be laughing so hard at my finish time I probably would give him an asthma attack.
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Waiting for Saturday evening was a great idea as I managed to catch quite the sky for my run. I’ve included a few photos as a gallery below in case you’re interested: