My final decision on this race was to try and stay within striking distance of the 1:40 pace group in front of me. My hope was that I could have enough in the tank to reel them back in over the last 3-4 miles or so. After the start it didn't take long for the 1:40 group to start distancing themselves from me. I was cool with that as long as I could still see the pace signs.

The course has more uphill going out than coming back. The last few miles are mostly downhill to this course is set up for a fast finish, especially if you have some gas left in the tank.

I didn't see many mile markers and didn't run with my Garmin. I had my iPhone on my arm just so I could see my results via Strava. They had s timing mat near the half way point but I wasn't sure where that was. I glanced at my watch and saw that I was at 48 minutes and change. I figured it was between 6 and 6.5 miles. Later I heard that the marker was at the 10K point. By this time the 1:40 pacers were 200 yards or so in front of me.

After the turnaround, which had a live band which was cool, there was a nice little climb, probably averaging 4% or so for 1/3rd of a mile and I could finally feel some fatique settling in. This was the most important part of my race. During that little climb I started to think "O.K. I can back down now and just have a nice training run the rest of the way in ..." The 1:40 pace group gained a little more on me during that climb and I was doubting I had enough in my tank to catch them. Of course the competitive side in me said "Don't be a pu--y, get up this hill and chase them down!"

As I crested that little hill I could feel my stride getting longer, I took some deep breaths and decided it was game on suckers! Knowing there was more downhill action the way back at least gave me the confidence I could gradually close the gap. But I also knew that the pacing strategy was a negative split for this course. Somewhere between mile 8 and 9 I could tell that the gap was getting shorter so I focused on maintaining a relaxed but strong stride. I tried to relax as much as possible as I kept my cadence up, taking longer strides on the downhill.

By about mile 10 I had cut the gap in half. Just a 10K to go! I was getting tired but I was determined to catch those pacers. I didn't see mile markers after mile 10 so I looked at my watch at one point and saw 1:26 so I knew there was less than 2 miles to go. The two pacers started to separate and my guess was that the slower pacer was the 1:40 guy, at least I hoped that was the case. I started behind them so I knew wouldn't have to finish before them to go sub 1:40. The finish line was in sight and I was only 20 yards behind the rear pacer. I kicked it in, passed him about 150 yards or so before the finish line. Looked at my watch, it showed 1:39:50 and yes, a little fist pump followed. PR's are that much nicer when you leave everything out on the course.

Mile Splits
1 7:54
2 8:01
3 7:56
4 7:28
5 7:31
6 7:21
7 7:21
8 7:05
9 7:25
10 7:23
11 7:33
12 7:20
13 7:08


Nothing. I think I paced that race just right. Nutrition was spot on, I took gatorade 2 or 3 times, water once.

Pete, Jon and Ryan were waiting just beyond the timimg chip takers. We strolled over to the recovery area and had some chocolate milk and pizza. They also had some decent macaroni and cheese, the warm food hit the spot as it was still cool outside (low 40's).


Excellent Race, Well organized, sufficient volunteers, they did a great job of directing traffic/keeping the course safe. Plenty of water stations with plenty of volunteers.