I'm doing my first 10k this april too! I have started training on my own but will be following a 13 week program with a group next week. The exact schedule is here
Run 10k Intro
Good luck!

Thanks for the encouragement and advice everyone!

Kookiemonster - that's cool that you will be doing your first 10K around the same time. I'll check out the link (thanks!) and good luck with your training too!

The "In Training" Sun Run clinics are great (from kookiemonster's link). That's how I got started running in 2002. Just make sure you get your 2 runs in durring the week by yourself, and you will be more than ready for the weekly group runs.

Last year I was a clinic leader. This year I'm doing marathon training runs on Sunday mornings (for Vancouver Marathon), so I couldn't fit the clinic coaching into my schedule.

With regard to finishing last, just check last year's results for the race. Some 10k's are really races, and others are more like 'events'. Usually the person who does finish last gets a huge cheer, so I would rather finish last than 2nd to last. I finished a race in 2004 in 183rd place out of 196 finishers (and 5 DNF's). The person in last place got a much bigger cheer than I did.