Started almost near the back of the line up for the start of the race. Clock showed 2+ minutes already elapsed when I passed the start line. Had a lot of trouble for the first one and a half kms as I was passing Superwoman, a few witches, someone dressed up as a fridge (yes, a fridge) and people running with strollers. Course is a bit narrow so I was weaving and dodging all of the slower runners in costume trying to get by.
Things opened up after that and I settled into a reasonable pace and just took in the view. Got to the first water station and just about crashed into a guy that stopped for a drink right in front of me. Took a small sip, adjusted my earphones and kept going.
Wanted to keep an even pace throughout this race so I tried to pick it up when I felt myself slowing down. Passed lots of people since I started with a slower group. Got passed near the 3/4 mark by 4-5 people as I was having trouble keeping my pace. Got my second wind at about 8km and picked it up a notch to pass a few more people. At about the 9km mark I decided to go into Simon Whitfield mode and see if I could sprint past the 3 or 4 runners in front of me. Did good and passed all but one guy with about 50 m left. I should have waited a little longer to attack but I felt I was running out of time. I got right beside him before he noticed me and we ran neck to neck for a few meters. Garmin says we were both running at a whopping 2:25 min/km pace...we were flying! Heard the announcer telling everyone to look at these two runners battling it out to the finish. I was too tired from reeling in the other runners and my challenge was over. My sprint mate forged ahead to beat me by 1 second, awesome!

Still learning how to pace my runs, especially for the first couple of kms.

Walked a bit to catch my breath from that finishing sprint.


Lack of training, pacing, lazyness, age!


This is a great, well run race that keeps me coming back each year.