Ran the Dam to Dam race this morning out at Sand Hollow. Great morning for a race, beautiful weather with pretty warm temperatures. This year's race had about 300 people which was quite a few more than last year (100 or so). I wasn't real sure what to expect from this race, I was just focusing on running faster than last year (33:06) which I thought wouldn't be that hard considering the weather was much better and I'm in a little better shape. I did a mile warm-up with the guys from the club (Dave Holt, Steve Hooper, Bill Campbell, and Steve Olsen, who has come a few times.) I knew just having all those guys there would mean it would be pretty competitive, plus I saw Glen Tucker who lives in Cedar, and is a very good runner, along with Jose Martinez another guy from St. George who was there and on time this year. Anyway the race started out pretty fast with Glen and Dave taking off, Steve Olsen wasn't far behind. Steve Hooper was in 4th and I was in 5th. I didn't want to get too excited at the start, so I just tried to get out quick and get into a rhythm, but not worry too much about the guys ahead or behind me. First mile- 5:35 pretty fast first mile for me, but feeling pretty good. Glen and Dave are already long gone, Olsen is in third, and Hoop and me are pretty much together. Second mile- 5:57 another good mile, but my stomach starts hurting, didn't have much for breakfast and dinner wasn't all that filling last night. Steve Hooper and I are still running close to each other with really nobody pushing us from behind. Third mile- 6:02 during the third mile I passed Steve Hooper which I thought might have been too early, any rate he had been pulling me along the first two miles, so I figured it would be my turn to take the lead. Steve went with me for awhile then slowed a little but still hung pretty close to finish 5th overall and not far behind me. I thought for sure he was going to run me down once we got on the dam, I was sweating bullets. I just had to get Steve back, he smoked me in the Painters Half a few weeks ago. Fourth mile-6:04 another good mile, this course is run on gravel and sand so it was kind of hard to feel like you were in any consisent rhythm, with the footing being pretty loose. I was glad I had the garmin on, each time my pace was going over 6:00 I would try to pick it up some. Fifth mile-5:59 Good finish, but ready to be done. 129 Ft to finish= 6.9 seconds. Overall, very pleased with my race 29:44 (5:55 average mile) compared to 33:06 last year. The race team and St. George Running Club cleaned house. Dave-2nd, Steve Olsen- 3rd, Dustin Ence-4th, Steve Hooper 5th, and Bill Campbell-10th. Way to go guys! After the awards Me, Bill, and Jose went and ran the course again to get in some more miles. Actually left from the parking lot and ran over the north dam, which added a mile, then the 5 mile course again, felt much better the second time running at an 8:00 mile pace. | 