I was feeling pretty good, considering that I was sick earlier in the week. I went out exactly as I wanted to, 6:42 for the first mile. The next two were slightly slower (around 7:00) but they were mostly uphill, and I planned them to be slower. Then came the flats and downhills, and I was cruising along at < 6:50/mile and feeling good. Coming back up the big hill at miles 8-9 I slowed down to just over 7:00/mile, still feeling pretty good. I hit the mile 10 marker at <1:10, and knew at that point that I could hit <1:30. Taking the hills into account I was basically negative splitting, and felt great. I just needed to run a 20 minute 5K, and I felt good to go. I picked up the pace to what was probably around 6:20. I was going to check at the next 1/2 mile point, which I had memorized for this purpose. But I never got a chance....

Some a-hole decided that every inch matters and cut BEHIND me on a corner, clipping my heel (HARD! -- this was not a brush but an all-out kick in the foot) and sending me flying. He HAD to have seen the whole thing, as I fell basically right in front of him. I landed on my left knee. I tried to get up and run, but no dice. Meanwhile, Mr. A-hole keeps running while some guy who was behind and saw it all shouts out "Hey Dude aren't you going to stop?" No comment from Mr. A-hole.

Misty and the kids were just a block away. I'm glad that the kids didn't see what happened. I hobbled for a block, hoping to shake off the pain. But the pain remained, and at this point, wisdom got the better of me and I decided to stop.

Right now, I am pretty depressed about the whole thing. Not so much about not hitting that 1:30. I know now that this goal will come. I was going to hit it without a doubt. I'm depressed because I would have liked to believe that all of my fellow runners are decent folk. Most of them are. Many people asked whether I was OK as they passed by, but the one guy who SHOULD have been asking didn't bother.

Carry a paintball gun?

I was too upset to bother with warming down, though frankly I think that Misty was more upset than I was. She took my chip back for me, and spent another 30 minutes at the race venue talking to a race official and trying to track down the guy who saw the whole thing happen. She eventually found him, and I guess he spoke with the race official. I don't know whether anything is going to happen, and I don't really care, except that it sure would be nice if Mr. A-hole were at least made aware of how badly he behaved.