I ran pretty well up until that killer hill. A lot of people were passing me. It was my initial goal to keep up with my younger sister (a junior in high school) who is a really great runner. But at the beginning of the race she was sprinting and darting in between people to get ahead, and I knew that if I tried to keep up with that I was going to kill myself. So I just let her go and set my own pace. After the killer hill, I sprinted down and through the finish line, passing a lot of the people who had passed me earlier. It was a great feeling. I could have done much better if I had known the course and been able to plan my effort better.

Figure out the course before hand so that I would know about that massive hill. And watch for mile markers. I didn't see any at all, so I was trying to figure out about how far I had gone by looking at my watch and guessing my pace.

That massive hill.


I'm really ticked off because my time has not been posted. I know I'm registered, and I heard my timing chip going off when I crossed the mat, but my time hasn't been posted (neither has my sisters', who was one bib number below me). There's a whole group of bib numbers from the Runner's Roost we registered at that haven't had their results posted. It's really bothering me that I don't know how well (or not well) I did. That's my major complaint about this race. I paid the extra $6 so I could get my results, and now I'm not getting that. I understand it's all for a good cause, but dang it, I want to know how I did.

The after-race events were good. Lots of free stuff, lots of volunteers handing out water and food, lots of people milling around. Jessie and I got back-signs that said we were running to celebrate our grandmother, who fought and won her battle with breast cancer. There were a lot of survivors around, and a lot of people had back-signs that said "In memory of". Overall, it was a lot of fun. 1.5 million participants, they said (though I think between 800-1000 were competitive - most people just do the walk).