Start was all jumbled! A bunch a people trying to get onto a small bike path. Luckily I started in pretty good position and after the 1st mile the weaving was done and I was able to settle into a nice pace. For miles 1-2 Keith, Chris and I all ran together. At mile 2.5 chris picked up pace and went ahead, this was a good thing since he was wearing bright yellow clothes and gave me something to track and "try" to chase down. Keith and I stayed together until mile 4 when keith dropped back. Up to this point I was able to hold an extremely steady pace. The downhill portion started around mile 2.5 and did not end until the turn around point at mile 5!

The 1st 5 miles were pretty simple, around 2.5miles I did start to feel some discomfort at the front of my ankle, which is something I haven't felt in over a year. For this I concentrated on maintaining a "loose" ankle and by mile 4 the discomfort was gone. finished the 1st 5 miles at 41m, very good time.

At the turnaround the start of the steady incline to the finish started. I spotted Chris bright yellow shirt and concentrated on reeling him in, at this point he was over 150yds in front of me. The aid station was around mile 6.5, tried drinking water but I still don't have the whole run and drink thing down, had a few sips and the rest went down my arm. I think I may look into the fancy belts that carry the squezze bottles.

Around mile 6.75 the course hit the steepest part which would last until around the 8.5 mile marker. Chris was still 150 yds in front. through out the entire hill section I was able to get with-in 50yds but no closer, then once I reached the top I had nothing left and he pulled away again. He lended up beating me by just a little under 1 minute, I figured that since I was 7 years older the handicap puts me as the winner :)

The only struggle portion of the race came from mile 7.5 through mile 9. This was where I was struggling to hold pace and it took an extremely large amount of self-motivation to hold steady. I was able to push through until the start of the last mile and at this point everything in my legs was screaming to slow down but I knew there wasn't much left so pushed through to the finish.
Strong sprint to the finish, I was able to pass 1 person and almost a 2nd but ran out of room.

When reviewing the lap data I found that the last mile was my fastest at 7:55.

Overall this was a strong race, I was able to manage my pace fairly well. I finished feeling I gave it everything I had and with the last mile being my fastest I am extremely satisfied.

Bent at the waste sucking air until the stars went away!!