My first mountain goat =)

I've been cheering my father along this course since before I could remember. He's done it every year since I was little.

Running it for the first time was exciting for me, especially since the last few miles of the course go through my neighborhood and are on routes that I frequently train on.

Laura decided to race today, and we agreed to run together. I'm the one usually dashing up the hills too fast for my own good; she's the one usually kicking my butt on the last third of our long training runs. I knew it would be mutually beneficial given her experience vs my newbieness.

The first mile was running in a mob, followed by nine more miles of running in a smaller mob. There was plenty of room on the road once the pack thinned out a little, but I don't recall any gaps forming. Just solid people the whole way!

We went in with the goal of running low 8-minute miles and gradually increasing to about 9. Given all my training this year has been at 9+ minutes per mile, this was ambitious. I had no idea how many miles I would be good for at that pace... I just had to trust my training and my running partner =)

There are several long, gradual hills on the course. The old course used to include running to the summit of two water tower hills, but the route was changed because the road was too narrow for the volume of runners the race now attracts.

Laura and I stuck together the whole way! During the race I felt as if I could have taken off, but tonight I feel my legs and I'm really glad that I didn't. I really don't have the experience to know how hard I can push right now before my body will give out. I'll save that experience for my 'A' races! *with proper training

Walked around and caught up with some other racers; found my parents and enjoyed food/water.


This race has come a long way - This year had 1700+ runners in the 10 miler and was well organized. The start was about 10 minutes late, but that was fine. Weird that it starts at 10:15am, I think I would have preferred and earlier time.