Was not sure how I was going to do on this race. I figured around 2ish and would just adjust on the fly as the miles peeled off. I started out just ahead of the 2 hour pace group. The first couple of miles felt good and I figured I would just try to the hold the good pace I was at. Hit mile 3 at 25:44 and mile 6 at 52:10. I knew when I hit mile 6 that fast I may have gone out just a little to fast, but also thought hey if I can run the second half in 55 I would be thrilled with my time.
Now just to back up a minute, around mile 5ish I grabbed a cup of water and crushed the cup to throw it. I saw a guy with a trash bag and went for the 2 point shot but it was blocked. I accidently hit a young girl running right in the forehead. I aplogized and she laughed and said no big deal.
The second half of this race was ok, I still felt pretty good but was aware that my pace had slowed just a little. Around mile 11.5 the 2 hour pace group caught me and I hung with them into mile 12 and fell back just a little. As I came up to the finish I pushed it hard to finish at 2 and was happy with my time.
One thing about this race was they gace us "green" race number that you can plant and have spring flowers, however they do not hold up well at all. Before mile 5 mine had ripped free from the safety pins, I punched new holes and re-pinned about 5 times. But the the sweat just made the race number just tear so easy. I ended up just folding it up and sticking it in my waist band and held it up as I crossed the finish line. I saw several other runners holding the race numbers as they ran as well.
The race being out and back gives you a chance to see how fast some folks run I was at mile 4.5 when the leaders where headed home. The top 5 where:
Worku Beyi 1:02:54
Daniel Kipkoech 1:03:00
Patrick Cheruiyot 1:03:14
Peter Matelong 1:04:00
Demesse Tefera 1:04:16

Not the average American names......

Pace better.

pace