Started near the front (as I always try to) and looked out for the small groups of people who had no business being in the front and joked about winning the race. Knew they would run interference for the fasties so wanted to mark them all (I have no idea why people do that - guess I need to add that to the "pet peeve" thread). Kendel Ehrlich (governor's wife)was running the race, and she was also the honorary starter. She said her words and they started us off.

Went out strong but not super hard. There were about 25 people or so ahead of me, with a couple making a small pack within the first 1/4 mile or so and pulling away. I settled into my groove and got ready for the climb up that side of the bridge. It would be about 2-1/2 miles to the peak and then downhill until we crossed over Route 50. Felt pretty good considering the sinus cold, but couldn't find the first mile marker so I didn't get a split.

It had started to thin out and I was surprised that no one had passed me and that I picked off one person. Finally after about 11 minutes in someone clodded up along-side me and asked if I had seen any mile markers. I said no and then about 200 yards later we came up on mile 2 which I clicked off at 12:19. Hmmm, seemed to be pretty fast, but I didn't really question it.

Still climbing the bridge and I picked off another person while not being passed. Hit the crest of the bridge and knew the "hardest" part was over. Mile marker 3 shows up and I hit my lap button .... uh 5:54 with an 18:13 total?? Holy shit!! Either I'm flying or something isn't right with the markers. Stride out a bit on the down slope and let it ride a bit conserving for the last couple miles, just trying to maintain. Mile 4 comes at 5:43 and total of 23:56. Either I'm on pace to run a 37-ish or something's up. It's fishy because I'm movin' out, but I'm not at my limit which is normally that pace.

A guy in front of me stops at a port-a-crapper and takes a quick pee, comes out next to me, surges to get ahead and I try to maintain his pace. After about a 1/2 mile or so he's fading and I pick him off. I look back and see a few people coming up on us and just keep a good rhythm. Damn .... where the hell is mile 5?? Finally get to it as one of the other guys passes me ..... 7:55 with a total of 31:52 (that would also have been my 5 mile PR - ever, even in college - if that was the finish)??? What the f--k?? Okay, I know the mile markers are all f'ed up now. Start to worry about what time I would really get. Breaking 42 was my goal with a long shot at breaking 40 as the ultimate prize.

As we enter the park gates, another guy passes me and I try to keep pace. About 3/4 of a mile to go and I'm glancing at the watch to see if there is any chance I might break 40 ..... there is!!! I try and pick it up a bit and stay about 30 feet behind the guy who passed me. Hit 6 mile marker at 6:30 and 38:23 total. Alright, I need to push it to break 40 ..... come on you bastard!!

Glance behind, no one near me to catch me at the line and I could not get the guy who passed me. Cross the timing mat to my name from the announcer and hit the stop button .........

39:39 on the watch!!

Hell yeah, I did it!!

Trust my body for times instead of focusing on the watch. I started to get happy/complacent when I hit four miles at "sub 24" according to the mile markers when I know I've never run that fast.

Grabbed a banana, some water and some chocolate chip cookies. Waited for the results to be posted to see how I did and very happy with my performance overall!

Results start getting posted about 15 minutes later. Checked the second sheet .... ummm, no, go to the first sheet ..... there I am ..... 23rd out of over 2,100 ....... holy shit!! But because of my age group (and the fact that I aged up last month) there were 7 in my AG ahead of me (with one of them getting 2nd place overall so doesn't count in AG rankings). If I didn't age up I would have been 4th in the 30-34 group. ;-P


This was my first official 10k ever, so I busted my 10k cherry. Not much of a different approach than I'd take to a 5k, but paced a little bit easier in the beginning. I wish that I had been 100% instead of having the sinus cold, maybe I could have dipped into the 38's. ;)


Great race, I'll do it again if they run it next year (heard rumors it will be every other year now with the security issues and all that). Kick azz finishers medal, even better than the Baltimore Marathon one!