Great race and I even finished feeling good! I beat my goal of 3:30 and got the BQ. I even managed to get a third place award for my age group. I will write a little more detailed report when I get back from Montana.
The trip to Missoula was thankfully uneventful, though when we got there it was pretty hot and I was wondering how warm it would still be in the morning. Fortunately, the clouds rolled in overnight and the day was ideal for a summer marathon. The race started in the tiny suburb of Frenchtown at 6:00 AM (walkers went out at 5) and the temperature had dropped to 49 f. On the advice of local experts’ jtshad and Pat B., I decided to go out at an even pace based on a 3:30 finish and fell in line behind the pacer. The first seven miles or so were through farmland with plenty of heady smells from the dairy cattle. This area is not heavily populated and I do not recall seeing a single car or non-race person for the first hour of running. The only cowbells ringing were from a supportive college professor in a sombrero periodically riding up the line on a bicycle and a curious goat.
Some distance after passing a paper mill, the course turned south and headed across the river and up the hill into the forest. The hill started at about mile 14 and was not nearly as bad as I had feared, probably because I live on one that is steeper and so have no choice but to hill train. Although not particularly tired, I decided to conserve energy and fell behind the pacer a little on the steepest part of the hill and then passed him on the rollers near the top. The downhill was great to gain a little extra time and I started picking up the pace hoping that I could have a negative split. After we merged with the half marathon course, the runner traffic picked up a little and I found myself behind a lady that was picking great lines and passing walkers/slower runners without changing her pace. I ended up following that gal through town for about 8 miles and may not have caught her, but she began to slow down and I still had a little energy so I chatted with her for a while and moved on.
The race ended on the far side of a bridge in downtown. I was still feeling decent and tried to sprint the last 0.2 to the finish. I think it was only a sprint in my mind, but I seemed to go a bit faster. The end was great! They had cool showers and even a free beer for the runners (I had a few of these!) My splits are below
1 8:01
2 7:59
3 7:59
4 7:58
5 8:02
6 8:01
7 7:57
8 8:01
9 8:00 The pacer was very good at holding around 8.
10 8:05
11 7:55
12 7:56
13 8:03
14 8:23 Course moved up the hill
15 7:38 Started down
16 7:25
17 7:42
18 7:54
19 7:56
20 8:01
21 8:06
22 8:00
23 8:01
24 7:54
25 7:55
26 7:43
0.2 unknown – forgot to stop GPS.
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