Technically, the only reason that I got first in my age division was because Susannah got first overall!
We did a short warmup and then went to the start line. I started in front, which was a little weird but ok. After about a mile I got caught by a train coming through! There were about 6 people that didn't get caught, and as the seventh runner I was the first to have to wait for it (everyone caught up to me...too bad). I stopped my watch for it and at the end realized that the train took 1:57 to go by. At the 3 (actually 3 1/4) mile mark I was at 23:58, time adjusted for the train- surprising because my last 5k was over 24 minutes. A bit before that I started running with a very tall guy, and we stayed together until about mile 9. It was really helpful to run with him because I didn't have to run by myself. Then another man passed us and I went with him for a few miles. I really started to feel sore by the 11th mile, but I kept going, though I slowed down a bit. Near the end we crossed the train tracks again- the lights started to go on right as I got there, so I did a surge and got through before the barriers went down. I heard that there were two trains, and one lady ran in between them- crazy. I was excited to finish under 2 hours, because that was my goal. |