During my lunch break on Friday I drove down to American Fork to pick up my packet. It took a little over an hour. I really wish they would have had the option for me to pick up my packet directly before the race. I arrived at AF high school at about 6:30 am and found a parking spot fairly close to the starting line. After a little over 2 miles of warm-up I started toward the starting line and did about 4 strides (10s each). I got up to the starting line with a couple of minutes to go. Then Kate Hansen, the luge Olympian, gave the countdown and fire the pistol. A group of about a dozen went out at an unsustainable pace. I was just behind this group that was led by a few preteens and two high-school age boys. At 0.5 miles we came to a steep hill that throttled the pack nicely. The hill was only a quarter of a mile but by the top, I had passed almost everyone in the group. One of my goals for this race was to keep my speed in check at the beginning and it paid off. Down the other side of the hill I passed a few more and could see three guys in front of me quite a ways off. The gap closed a little with the second and third place guys slowing down slightly. By mile 2 I couldn't see the guy in front and the other two were running side by side. With about 0.25 miles left there was a small hill that slowed the two guys in front of me. Now they were within 10 seconds. I kept pushing to catch them but wasn't able to. Just before the finish line, the third place guy ducked under the rope on the side of the course. I ended up finishing 7 seconds behind the guy in front of me. And I was surprised to see my uncle volunteering in the finishing area to give me a bottle of water. I cooled down for about 1.5 miles and hung out for a bit in the nice weather. I was still a little confused about whether I got 3rd or 4th because the results kiosk said 4th but I knew the 3rd place guy bandited the race. I stuck around anyway and was happy to get a certificate for a free pair of shoes. Splits from my watch. A little different than my official time. 6:04, 5:59, 6:00, 34 | 