It took awhile to get up to a good race pace because of all the people. Usually I start a little too fast because of my excitement and getting caught up with the crowd, but there was no chance of that happening at Bloomsday. It took about a mile or more to get to my comfortably hard pace. The course had some pretty good hills, and the downhills were kind of hard to navigate because I like to take them pretty fast and had to weave in and out of people, sometimes getting blocked and having to slow down a bit till I could get through. I saw "doomsday" hill coming at mile 5 and slowed my pace a little and prepared myself to take it slow and steady so I wouldn't have to walk. That method worked great as I was up the hill feeling pretty strong before I knew it! I was feeling pretty good after that knowing the hardest part was over and I only had a couple miles to go. The weather was hotter than I'm used to and I started getting pretty hot, so I poured a cup of water on my head at an aid station. A little shocking but it worked! I also was able to run through some sprinklers that some awesome spectators had put out. There was a great downhill to the finish line which made the final sprint fun and easy.

nothing, I think it went really well.

walked to the water aid station and grabbed a cup, heading to the tshirt pick up. The shirts were pretty cool looking this year, red with runner figures across the front. Went over to the carousel where DH and I had agreed to meet. Found each other after a little searching and walked around a bit before heading back to the hotel.


The large amount of people, but they also made it alot of fun!


It was alot of fun running with so many people. The quiet, solitude of some of the races in Montana definitely has its own charm, but the energy of the crowd and spectators in a race this size is pretty cool too. There was lots of great entertainment along the course, bands, bellydancers, soloists, partyers, clowns, costumes, you name it! Saw one guy run by in a french maid outfit, he had great runner legs too! I slapped hands with some of the kids on the sides of the road, waved, told a girl happy birthday that was wearing a "I turned 14 today" shirt, and just generally had a great time. Plan to put this one on my schedule for next year and with my time for this year I automatically qualify for the yellow section next year. WOOOHOOO!!!!