Met up at 7:45am with the some of the kids to get on the bus and head up to the starting line. We got up to the start and did a 2 mile warm up. I hit the port-a-potty and I was good to go for the race. I saw Dave so we did another .5 mile or so. It was perfect weather. I got to the start and didn't see anyone except Batman and a rapping hamster. I felt like I had a good chance of winning. All of sudden, Seth Wold comes up to me and says "hi." Flashbacks of the 2008 Ogden Marathon came on. Seth is a great runner and I knew I would have to work for this one if I wanted the win. The race started and Dave, Seth, and I took it out. Dave ran the first two miles with us and then dropped back to run with his high school kids. I didn't want to look at my watch at all so I just stayed relaxed and pushed with Seth. I felt really good as the miles kept clicking off. I felt really strong. Much like 2008 Ogden Marathon, Seth rode me like Pippi Longstocking until mile 10. At the top of Majestic hill he extended his lead to about 10 seconds in front of me. The gradual downhill helped me get going again and my legs responded. I closed the gap with Seth over the last two miles but it was not enough. He beat me by about 10 seconds or so. I was a little bummed about this but it felt great pushing a solid race with him. My watch measured 13 miles so the course was a touch short. Happy to see my high school kids run well today. This hopefully bodes well for a great track season. Decent way to finish off the week. This was another confidence boost in the right direction for what I hope to do this year as I get back into race mode. | 