Perfect 10

The Perfect 10 is a 10k or 10 Miler (runners choice at registration) that is organized by PR (Potomac River) Running.  It is held in Reston Virginia and starts/ends at the South Lakes High School.  Runners in both the 10k or the 10 Miler will receive a technical short sleeve shirt and a finishers medal (same medal for all runners).

All runners start at the same time and follow the same course for the first 6 miles at which point the 10k runners peel off into the high school and finish on the track while the 10 miler runners continue on another loop around the school and finish on the track as well.

As with all PR events, it is extremely well run and staffed.  There are plenty of food and beverage options at the end of the race, and free high resolution photos of the event on posted on the PR Running's Flickr page.

The routes are full of rolling hills and there are some great views of the lakes around Southern Reston.  After the start, the roads are open to traffic, but for the most part intersections are well staffed with volunteers and police to keep the runners safe.  There are a few entrances to development communities and apartments that aren't staffed, but in general I have found the residents to be reasonable as they wait.  However, this year I did have one driver get out fairly aggressively in front of me.  I had to slow down a lot and still could have slapped the back of his car.  But, this isn't a PR Running or event issue in my opinion.

The 10 miler makes two loops around Reston as you can see from the image below.  The roads are full of rolling hills which end up adding up to about 380 feet of elevation gain according to Strava.

Perfect 10, 10 Miler Strava Map

The 10k makes a single loop around Reston with a total elevation gain coming in right around 240 feet.  As I indicated earlier, and as you can see from the map, the 10k and 10 Miler share the route for the first 6+ miles.

Perfect 10, 10k Strava Map

There are water stops throughout the course, but if I had one complaint about the event it would be that they were positioned too far apart, at least for me.  At one point along the course I believe it was just over 3 miles between water stops.  I would prefer to see water station at least every 2 to 2.5 miles.  I believe it was like that the prior year for this event, so I am not sure why that changed.

Overall this is a great event and actually one of my favorite PR Running events in the year.  By late September the air is starting to cool down and the humidity is finally starting to wane.  The hills make this a fun and somewhat challenging course.  Given all that the 10 miler makes for a great half or full marathon trainer for the Fall.