I went off at the front and planned to run a 6:20 first mile and then settle in. I clicked the first off at 6:18 and there is a little climb in that first mile and then there is a long gradual downhill to a flat section where I ticked off 6:19 in the second mile. I was feeling good but knew I was not in that good of shape to sustain that and reeled myself back in to 6:30s. At mile 3 there is another long gradual uphill out to lake michigan that is pretty tough before a downhill and flat section along the lake. The weather was perfect with little wind and sunshine. I was taking fluids at each aid station and then the last half was pouring water on my head to cool off. The volunteers were great and there were alot of them. This course is really beautiful and cannot believe I never signed up for this race before. At the turnaround at Lake Michigan I was starting to feel the pain of the effort. I was now having trouble running at 6:30 pace and the hill off the beach was tough at that point. About mile 6 there is a downhill to a flat section and I got into a little groove on miles 7-8 and thought I might be able to hold on. The last couple miles I just buried my head and focused on keeping pace. The fans were on the course for the last half mile and then helped get me to the finish line. I turned the corner into the chute and saw 1:00:45 on the clock and knew I was going to hit my goal. 1:00:50!

Mile Splits:
Mile1: 6:18
MIle2: 6:19
Mile3: 6:32
Mile4: 6:36
Mile5: 6:33
Mile6: 6:43
Mile7: 6:33
Mile8: 6:39
Mile9: 6:33
9.35: (6:12 pace)

Excellent course and support!

I probaby went out a little bit too hard in the first 2 miles but ultimately I got to my time goal of under 1:01:00. The course has a couple tough hills at miles 4-6 that hurt a bit but was able to sustain pace pretty well. I think the 6:43 and 6:39 mile times were because I went out too fast. Probably shoot for more of an even split in future races at this distance and above.

Rehydrated and chatted with my parents and other friend for awhile. It took them awhile to get results up. I planning on just taking off right away but when I saw I was 1st AG I decided to stay becuase the hardware was a nice plaque.


Not enough long endurance runs. I have been doing alot of 6-9 mile runs but not alot above that which is mainly due to time constraints.


I made the front page of the sports section...sweet!

Tons of volunteers and plenty of aid stations.