This was the 1st year of the Shamrock half marathon in Saratoga Springs. It was 25 degrees at the starting line. Luckily it warmed up to about 35' by the end of the run. I would think there were just over a hundred runners.
The course is a loop course that has a few hills with the high point of the race at the 8.5 mile mark which is about a 400 ft elevation gain from the start but it felt like more.
After a few hundered yards I was in 9th place and at the 1 mile mark I was in 7th. At the 2 mile mark I was in 5th. I stayed in 5th until mile 6 and got passed. I let him go. I was trying to run a smart race. The guy that passed me took a wrong turn an lost about 1 minute. I help yell at him and got him turned around. He almost caught up to me but after reaching the high point of the race I picked up the pace a little on the down hill and held him off to finish in 5th pace.
Mile 1 - 6:41 flat
Mile 2 - 7:37 up hill
Mile 3 - 7:22 climbing 21:39
Mile 4 - 7:34 still climbing
Mile 5 - 7:31
Mile 6 - 7:13 43:58
Mile 7 - 6:49 flat
Mile 8 - 7:24
Mile 9 - 7:23 big hill and down 1:05:33
Mile 10 - 6:40 coming down
Mile 11 - 6:52 flat
Mile 12 - 6:12 biggest decent of the race 1:25:18
Mile 13 - 6:36
Total 1:32:40 Mile avg 7:05 |