Bus got us up to start area around 7am (race started at 7:45). Warmed up the first 3 miles easy then did a 2 min faster effort at ~5:00 pace, then some more jogging and strides. It was cloudy and warm, a little humid (compared to Utah, so that's not saying much). Off the start 4-5 guys got out ahead of me. One got out really fast (Jordan Horn, who runs on the McMillan Elite team, although I didn't know who has was at the time and thought it was just some idiot going out way too fast). After about 1/4 to 1/2 mile I moved into 2nd place and that's where I stayed. Jordan was in the clear and when I went through the 1st mile in 4:31, he was probably 15 seconds ahead of me. It was crazy... And he wasn't coming back... I was moving at a good clip and he was getting further and further away. At some point during the second mile I realized he wasn't just some yahoo and he was legit. With no challenge from behind, I kept a nice steady rhythm for the next 2 miles - 4:37 then 4:35, and 28 seconds for the final stretch. Gun time and chip time were both 14:10 (I love it when that happens!). The course was definitely aided, but it wasn't like a down the canyon quad mashing screamer. I wasn't sore at all afterwards. The elevation profile is somewhat deceiving because there is an overpass we ran over that doesn't show up on the map. It was very smooth runnable downhill - hence the super fast time. I think it maybe gave you about 10 seconds / mile compared to the track... Although who knows for sure? I'll find out next weekend in Portland. I did an interview for the local TV station after finishing, then cooled down 2.5 miles, filled out paperwork to receive my $100 prize, then headed back to my hotel with my aunt & uncle, who had to come watch and were at the finish line. The three of us had a solid breakfast at Denny's and then drove out along the coast to Santa Barbara. I did a 3 mile shakeout after the drive, then we spent the rest of the day milling about in SB. I picked up my bib for the mile race, and discovered that Clyde had left me a good luck note earlier in the day. Ate too much pizza and ice cream (whatever, I'm on vacation!). Fontana Days is a fantastic community supported race. The people in charge of the race were so nice to me... I just hope I ran well enough to justify the airport pickup and hotel room that they were so generous to give me! I'd definitely go back to this one next year. I like smaller races where they really pay attention to details - in a lot of ways it reminded me of the Mountain to Fountain 15K. I also have no regrets about getting crushed by Jordan. He's a great runner and getting beat by 30 seconds shows that while I am improving and running well, I still have a ways to go to get to where I want to be. Some race photos... 
Not much to see in Fontana, but Santa Barbara's scenery is tough to beat... 
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