10:13am: I know, weird start time. This year was the 3rd year of this race. Last year they had 14 runners, this year there were around 50. I was feeling pretty good and I wanted a 1:25 if possible. The bad weather held off so we had mostly overcast skies and some wind in spots but nothing bad at all.
The race started and Kory Wheatley and Dan Bruner took off along with about 6-7 other people. I ran a 5:53 in the first mile and was only in 5th or 6th place. Kory and Dan stayed together through mile 2 before Kory finally shook him and just coasted ahead.
By mile 3 I was in 4th place and closing in on Brett who was in 3rd. I passed Brett and started working on Dan. At the 5 mile mark Dan was around 2:00 minutes ahead of me. At mile 7 Dan was 1:05 ahead of me and the downhill was basically over. I was hoping that my extra miles the last month would pay off and I could close the gap. I gained 5-10 seconds on him each mile but there wasn't enough miles left to get him but I stayed focused on him and just plugged away.
At the turn on Grant St. (approx 11.8 miles) he saw me and pushed ahead to hold me off. The last 1.4 miles is more uphill than down and I crept ever closer. I was within 15 seconds of him at 12.8 miles and we both picked-up the pace. He ended up beating me by 4 seconds so he was 2nd and I was 3rd. I finished in 1:23:57, a PR for me in a half. Dan normally beats me pretty solidly so I felt really good about my finish. Kory ran a 1:14 and smoked us all!!
Here are my mile splits:
1. 5:53
2. 6:01
3. 6:17
4. 6:15 5. 6:22
6. 6:28
7. 6:45 (water stop)
8. 6:28
9. 6:26 10. 6:34
11. 6:42
12. 6:44
13. 6:35
.1 5:49
Nice day...I feel good. | 