Had some high hopes for this race going in. I really wanted to break 55 minutes for the first 10K and qualify for Time Group 1 at the Peachtree Road Race in July. I also was hoping to still have enough in the tank after that effort to finish the entire thing in under 2 hours (even though my recent best was just 2 weeks ago when I bet my course PR at the Run the Reagan Half marathon by 16 minutes and finished in 2:16:45

After my 103 mile drive from the house up to Rome, GA and the campus of Berry College parked and walked to the registration area which was probably about a half a mile each way. Got my bib and chip and headed back to the van with about a half hour before the start. Stripped down to my shorts and then debated about what to wear on top. Decided to go with a long sleeve under my singlet (it was 48 degrees and foggy).

Grabbed the Garmin and put it on only to find out that the battery was dead! I had double checked it on the charger the night before so needless to say I wasn't happy Even more PO'd since I hadn't worn my regular Timex Ironman watch either. So, ok, no feedback at all today just gonna have to go with my internal clock.

After a short 1 mile warm up, I hear them calling the runners to the start area. I line up just in front of the 2:00 sign and boom we're off. The first mile is around the main campus area of Berry College (which boasts a 28,000 acre campus which is absolutely gorgeous!) From there, we start heading up to the Winshape area of the campus which is the older part of college and has some beautiful old stone buildings but first we have a few miles to run to get there! My first time split I hear is at the 2 mile marker and they call out a 16:25 to me...just about perfect as I wanted to go sub 8:30 for the first 6 miles to get my Peachtree qualifier.

Miles 3 and 4 go by as we continue to go up toward the upper part of the campus. Now, while this race was billed as a FLAT course, the upper part of the campus is 200 feet higher than the lower part! So it's really a continual climb on a "false flat" for over 3 miles. Obviously not steep but enough that your legs know it and yours eyes see it and your body feels it. Good thing for all the fog as it seems to help keep my mind off the steady uphill effort.

There are tow significant hills in this race that come at the mile 5 and the mile 6 markers. I hit the 6 mile marker at just under 50 minutes and am excited that I'll make the first 10K in under 55 minutes no problem. So, down the hill and onto the gravel road section we go and I keep looking for the 10K timing mat that I was expecting to be there...I keep looking and running...looking...there's NO MAT! So now I'm thinking, how are they going to use this race as a Peachtree (10K) qualifier without a mat at teh 10K mark???? I bring the pace down a little at this point as planned still unhappy about the lack of a timing mat and because I don't run well on packed gravel or trails for that matter. Hit the 7 mile mark and then the 8 mile mark still on the gravel road. Have to stop TWICE between miles 8 and 9 to get small rocks out of my right shoe

Trying to maintain a decent pace for the remainder of the miles as I hit the 9 mile mark and there's an announcer guy there playing music and reminding us that it's only 4.1 miles to go and that it's 200 feet below us to the finish line. Slow down and walk a bit at the water stations to get some liquids in me as the sun is started to burn off the fog and peek out from behind the clouds. Hit the mile 12 marker and hear my time is 1:58 and my legs are dead. I continue on anyways knowing that I won't be going under 2 hours today and still wondering about the lack of that darn 10K timing mat and how I'm gonna get my time now!

Hit the finish line and look at the clock (knowing I hit the start mat at about 15 seconds) Quick calculations in my head and I knew I had ran a PR time (My previous best was 6 years ago (2002) at the Atlanta Half Marathon where I ran a 2:09:11) Today I ran a 2:08:21 which was 8:24 faster than just two weeks ago! Finished 16/26 in my age group and 204/352 overall.

I'm really excited with the result and know that I can go under 2 hours very soon.