As we get close to the start, I hear that lrunfit is going to attempt to pace jmwebs at an 8:15 pace. That sounds solid to me, so I ask if I can tag along. Game on. If you knew this race, it's a bit of a gaggle at the start. If there's an "official" start spot, I've never seen it. You just sort of walk out of the building and everyone crowds there until you go. The three of us were WAYYYY to far back for our desired pace. We were bobbing and weaving like crazy, and still crossed mile 1 at a high-8 pace to close to 9. CRAP!! Focus on gaining ground over mile 2. Somewhere in here I'm really feeling some hard labored breathing. Look over and jmwebs and lrunfit are right with me. Uh oh, this is gonna be tough. Finally we realized at mile 2 we'd dome something like a 7:20. CRAP!!! #2. At that point, I think we settled down a tad, and I felt strong again. Sorta peeped my way ahead of Jim and Lisa around 2 or 3. As we approached the main hill on the course I wanted some more breathing room. Hit the hill and passed a bunch of people, all really breathing hard. It's a hill, but it's really not that bad! Felt good about myself there...it can get demoralizing being crushed on the hills around Princeton Club by the gazelle's I run with. Had a moment of realization that "hey, I don't suck!" which was nice.

Post-hill I really tried to stay smooth and fast (for me). It wasn't until mile 5-ish that I got into a crowd that was more my desired pace. Passing became less frequent. Nobody had passed me at this point. I could feel the effort building but was doing alright. 5-7 was just a fun section for me. Kept passing people without jockeying, etc.

By 7-ish I was well into a group of peeps that were of similar pace. At this point you backtrack a bit and get out into the open. Wind at our backs, but the eventual turnaround will occur and put us into the teeth of the wind. I tried from 7-8 to get in a pack, but kept being able to pass them. I'm hearing breathing behind me too, though, so they're either letting me pass, or I've got some peeps just following my lead. In the end, we busted out into the open at 8-ish and I was all alone in front. I could hear the breathing, and I'm taking the brunt of the wind. I tried HARD to maintain/speed up/drop them to no avail. Eventually, one guy passed me that I'd struggled to pass at maybe 5 or 6 miles. FARK...he'd played me like a fiddle! I tried to stay with him into the wind as we did some meandering to the finish, but it wasn't to be.

Not sure...the Lakefront Mary was a huge focus, and I used to be amazed that people that ran lakefront would be out doing this race. Now I'm one of them, which is so cool in and of itself!

Issued my congrats to Mr. Fiddle, and he laughingly admitted he followed the carrot on my back for a good 3-4 miles. ;) We had a nice conversation. Went to look for fast donks but found none. Eventually cheered in jmwebs and lrunfit, almost on his goal time to a T. GREAT stuff jmwebs! First time I've ran with him, and he's got game, no doubt about that.


Great race...really FUN course and fun time. Someday, I hope to do it in nice weather! Also REALLY like the 15K distance. A LOT!! My current fitness is probably somewhere right in the 15K sweet spot. I'd love to be able to approach a Half Mary with the same mindset (able to push throughout without fear of epic fail.).