Started out on the left and ran the first 1/4 or so on the side of the road and lawns/sidewalks to avoid much of the scramble. First part was very fast to get out of the crowd. Tried to settle into an aggressive pace and see if I could hold it. Really focused on breathing steady and keeping the pace steady and hard. First mile felt easy. The pace was starting to become harder to hold at 1.5, but I was pushing hard enough to keep it about the same. In fact, the second half of mile 2 was the second fastest half mile. At mile 3, I was really struggling to stay at the same pace. The course flattened and I slowed a bit around 2.3. With 1/2 mile to go, I was really dying but at the 1/4 pole I picked it up and finished strong.

Interesting - post race data shows my run cadence was slowing the entire race. It peaked at 94 at 1/2 mile, then steadily dropped 1 to 2 per 1/2 mile while finishing at 87. Not sure what it means, but it's interesting.

I guess I just need to keep running and working on the endurance so I can maintain this pace longer, or a faster pace for this length run.

Started to walk back to the parking, but it felt better to run so I did a mile easy to cool down.


I think I just need to keep running. Time and consistency have worked so far to keep me steadily improving, even at 50. It's fun to be PR'ing at this age - the beauty of a late start to running.

More short term, I've been a little more bike focused this past month since the half marathon, so maybe I could have run a slightly faster race a month ago, who knows.


This is a well organized race. Logistics are tough as you park and get bussed to the start, and it's a point to point race, but they do great job.