This race was only $25 (no shirt) to sign up for on race day. That's a good deal. My motivation for running was to knock out most of my long run 20 miles. Sometimes these long runs seem to go on forever and I don't plan very well for things like water, gatoraide, etc.. So I figured it would be nice to have some company and run support.
I felt the course was challenging. I liked the two "out and back" sections along the course. This is the first race where I've gotten to see how the really fast people look mid race. It was also interesting to see some of the changes up front from the first out and back to the second. The goal for the race part was to see if I could stay around MP (8:00 m/m).
The run....
1 mile warm up really slow.
Miles 1-3: 7:35 / 7:42 / 7:52. Good start. Actually a little faster than I intended.
Miles 4-7: 7:58 / 7:51 / 7:42 / 7:50. Somewhere in here I settled in to running with a group of 4 guys and 1 girl. One guy forgot his Garmin and would periodically ask me for pace/splits. Everytime we completed a sub 8:00 minute mile he would let out a "Whoohoo", or a, "Yeah Baby".
Miles 8-10: 7:46 / 7:55 / 7:51. I disliked this part of the course the most. This section included a lot of bike path. Lots and lots of little turns. Very easy to lose focus. I am most proud of mile 9. Mostly a slight uphill grade and a direct headwind that became stronger near the turn around point. Had to work to stay under 8 minutes.
Miles 11-13.1: 8:05 / 7:51 / 7:33 / 30.24 seconds (6:38). Mile 11 was disappointing. Really an easier section of the course. Should have been able to go faster. I told "Whoo hoo" guy he needed to pick up the pace and leave me but he didn't. Our now group of 3 was kind of wavering. At one point during this mile the pace balooned to 8:15. Focused on shorter stride and fasted turnover.
About halfway through mile 12 a tall young lady appeared out of nowhere running strong. I decided to try and match her pace rather than mail in the rest of the race. What a great finish. She pulled me along at a much faster pace than our small group would have been able to muster. I thought we dropped the other 2 guys but they also picked up the pace and finished a few seconds behind us. Very pleased with this run.
Ran 6 more miles out and back on the course to make it an even 20 miles. | 