Packed, slow start as expected. Nice that they had a chip start and chip finish for that reason, but didn't expect it so didn't take advantage of that fact by waiting for a thinner crowd.

Didn't really need water at the 2miler mark, but the teen water girls were RUNNING OUT INTO THE CROWD to give people water - totally disruptive! - so I took some and got stuck behind those girls and people who started walking to drink or avoid the water-pushers. Weird stomach cramping after mile 2 (too much water?) but fairly steady pace throughout. At the final km heading in on flat ground, my body said Speed Up, but my lungs said OWIE, On Fire! More than 11 hrs later, my lungs still kill- ugh.

Still came in with a PB, tho! Barely.

Took a long time to make it from the mat to get free from the crowd. By the time I did, THEY WERE OUT OF WATER! Ack! Soooo thirsty, so went to the Dollar store and got a water for $1.25... seriously.

Walked the approx 2 and a half miles to the Druid and got a bunch of post-race Harpoon IPAs, a hot toddy, and snuck a couple bites of Jonah's omelette.

After getting a nice buzz on and chatting up a really nice couple who also came from the race, we retired a few doors down to Urban Oasis for a 30 minute soak in the Japanese wooden hot tub. Ahhhhh... heaven! New post-race tradition in the making!


My effing sinuses and throat issue! I !@#$#%ing swear I can't remember the last time I could breathe through my nose-- this is so ridiculous! Another visit to the doc on Friday to get a referral to a specialist.


Good course and really good time at the Druid (one of the many sponsoring bars with free Harpoon!) post-race as it was taken over by racers, which was surprising, being more than a couple miles from race-central.

BUT, I was really put off by them running out of post=race water-- I have NEVER seen that at a race! And by that time, you couldn't push your way into the immediate sponsoring bars for water, they were so packed. Aside from that and some not-so-helpful newbies at the water table, all was good.