Somehow I managed to get right in the perfect spot to start. I didn't have to push my way through the slower people, and I wasn't getting run over by faster people. I felt strong and smooth. I hit the bottom of the big hill just under a mile and tried to keep a consistent pace going up. My watch beeped indicating a mile at the top of it. I didn't get passed or pass anyone, and that was the same on the downhill although I ran it pretty fast. I knew my first mile was fast, but I still felt strong.
I was holding up as the first female. Around 1.5 miles, I heard soft footsteps behind me and knew it was a girl. She went speeding by me, and I did my best to stay right behind her. Her pace seemed to slow down after a few minutes, so I passed her back up and took the lead again. Around 2.5 miles, she stuck her foot out in front of my right foot, and I almost fell.
She passed me up once again and took off. I picked up my pace too. I looked at my watch and it said 2.85 miles. I didn't want to kick too early, (I knew I couldn't sprint a quarter of a mile) so I held back a little bit. I guess I should have given it more at that time because the finish line was at 3.0 miles.

I was ended up as 2nd overall female, just a couple of seconds after the female winner. I was happy with my run and my time.

I would've given my all out just a little earlier. Although I would've liked to have won overall female, I was glad that I had someone to push me to a new PR.

Ryan and I ran 1 mile around the neighborhood across the street. Probably should've run it slower, but my adrenaline was still flowing like crazy.


My left knee is still very sore from the shoes that I just returned. I did wear my Adrenaline 11s today instead of the new pair, but I could still feel some of the pain that the Saucony's had given me.

Also, I haven't really trained at all on hills, so the one pretty decent hill through me off. I tried really hard to remember my days on the hills in Birmingham to remind myself that I had it in me.


I love small races, and this race definitely reminded me why. The people were all very friendly, there was a lot of excitement about race day, and there were some special touches. Post-race refreshments included the usual apples, bananas, oranges, water, but also included homemade cookies from members of the church. They also had several prizes they gave away in drawings.
The one complaint I have about the race is the way that awards were done. They announced the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall winners- the 1st place winners were given a prize. The 2nd and 3rd overall winners got nothing! Then, they gave trophies to the 1st place finisher in each age group and medals to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers in each age group. Very strange how they left out some people who did well. Fortunately for me, the first place female was a high school cross country track runner and could not keep the prize, so I got it! Very nice- a gym bag, running socks, a water bottle, a dry fit shirt, reflective wrist-bands, and a key pouch. Ryan won his age group and got his first trophy!