That's 39 of 157 out of the women only. I was prepared for the hills since I've been training on some tough ones near home, but it was still a tough race. First mile was very slow. I started much too far back and had to pass many in the first crush, this slowed me down quite a bit. The hills were challenging but I didn't feel overmatched. Only on the last hill did I really lose the rhythm of my breathing. Passed many, was passed by some, but I did start way at the back of the pack.

Get familiar with the course beforehand. Logistically, it just wasn't possible to get over there for an hour run before the race, but had I done so I'd have realized that the turnaround point was 4 miles in, not 3 miles as I guesstimated when we reached it (also, a race volunteer gave incorrect mileage earlier which confused me). Hence, I held back a little too much in mile 5, thinking I was in mile 4. When I realized I was a mile from the end I went all out but I felt great at the end - I could definitely have pushed it more earlier and had a better time.

Slow walk and stretched. Water.


Not knowing the course well enough.


I'll do it again next year, if only to keep on top of the hill running thing. I did enjoy the course quite a bit. The field was competitive but not overly so for my ability level, which is nice because it's demoralizing for me to always be a back of the pack finisher. =) I get excited when I'm closer to the middle.