So initially I though that Rebecca and I were just going to run this race for fun... Not race it. Then the night before I found out that Rebecca did indeed want to race it so blah. I figured I would shoot for a sub 7 pace. The first few miles went pretty well. I was just scoping out the competition. I could see that I would clearly be unable to get to the 1st or 2nd place dudes unless they were to fall off pace. They looked like seasoned vets so I figured that wouldn't happen. They were also both shirtless so obviously they are freakishly fast ;) Behind them was "Blue". I could tell that he wouldn't be able to hold the pace... Don't know how. I came to find later that he was actually running the relay so I was in 3rd place the whole time! Ha! I went out pretty relaxed so I was actually in about 7th position of guys. After about a mile I decided it would be beneficial to catch up to the group of three ahead of me. I sped up to them and jumped behind the last guy. Then I just jumped ahead to the different guys. I didn't feel like my training would allow me to be successful through ability alone so I figured I would focus on tactics. There was also a beast lady who was running a sub 7 pace. I stayed with her for over half the race. When we hit the hills she crept away and I knew I wasn't going to catch her... And frankly I didn't care. She was a female so she wouldn't mess with my gender placing and she was awesome so more power to her! The hills were HORRIBLE. I kept thinking they were going to stop or that we were going to get to the top and start going down. It never really happened. It ended up being a steady climb with some small downhills in between. I did everything I could to recover on the downhills and keep my pace on the ups. At mile 10 I noticed the arrows going the opposite direction and realized I would have to turn around and come back. I was not happy about that. At the 10 mile point turn around I saw that I was about 200 meters ahead of the next male. I figured I would be able to keep that for the rest of the race. I saw Rebecca on the way back and she made a strange face at me. I just looked like I was in lots of pain because I was. When I hit 13 miles on my watch I was super stoked. I came around the corner thinking that the finish line would be up ahead and I couldn't see it. All I could see was a MASSIVE BEASTLY BEAST MONSTER DEVIL HORRIBLE HILL!!! My watch was past 13.1 and I had lost all will to live. It was everything I had to just climb to the top, turn the corner and finish. Ended up showing 13.45 on the watch and I wasn't too happy about that. I got first in the military category (which wasn't too difficult) but also first in my age group and 3rd overall. It was a good race. Rebecca got the same stats. I was proud of her performance. 6:25, 6:37, 6:36, 6:38, 6:40, 6:47, 6:43, 6:44, 6:57, 7:10, 6:58, 7:03, 6:36, 3:08 Looks like I went out a bit fast and the hills were beastly. Especially mile 10 as you can see... | 