I got up at 4:15 this morning so that my wife and son and I could get away by a little before 5 am to make the 50 minute drive down to Providence. There was a very long line of cars backed up and not moving clear out to the highway and down the highway to catch the buses at the finish so we drove on up to the start line and my wife dropped me off there. I warmed up for a mile then waited for the race to start. It was about 20 min late starting probably because it nearly doubled in size [since last year] to over 2000 runners. The race started and I ran the first mile in 6:16 which is about where I wanted to be on these first few canyon miles. I felt like I didn't have a lot of energy and the pace felt too hard this morning. I slowed to 6:26 for the second mile and 6:25 for the 3rd. My back went out on me last Monday morning and I wasn't able to run all week until Friday when I did a 6 mile run. This may have had me a little stale. Mile 4 was about the same in 6:26 but then miles 5,6,and 7 were better at 6:18, 6:14, and 6:14. Just out of the canyon during the 7th mile my wife and son [who I didn't expect to see until the finished ] surprised me by being there and cheering me on with posters they had made that morning after dropping me off. That was a nice boost. Now out of the canyon miles 8,9,and 10 were 6:34, 6:33, and 6:40. The first half of mile 11 is pretty flat but then all uphill on the second half. This was 6:49. The 12th mile climbs the whole way and I hit it in 6:56. I would have been happy with 1:26 time for the race but really had a goal of 1:25. With my slow start I had kind of given up on 1:25 but at this point I realized I might be close it I could run a good last mile. I ran mile 13 in 6:19 then the final .16 [according to my garmin] at 5:28 pace. The clock at the finish said 1:24:48. Great ! But then I checked my garmin and it said 1:25:06 which is what my official time ended up which put my average pace at 6:29. My Garmin read long [13.16]. Probably because we were told to stay on the right side of the road and that windy canyon road gets measured by the tangents. This is my first time for this race. My only other two 1/2 marathons were both Painters half so this is a PR of nearly 4 min but definitely a faster course. I was pleased though that as lousey as I felt the first few miles, I didn't really feel that worn out in the end. Hopefully that will be a good sign for St George. Another plus was my back didn't bother me much during the run and was only mildly sore afterward. We'll have to see how it feels by Monday. All in all I'm happy with the result and was 3rd in my age group behind speedy Scott Ensign and Bill Cobler. Just wish I had shaved 6 seconds somewhere to get that sub 1:25. I guess that just gives me something to shoot for next time.
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