Fast first mile - 7:55 (guess I've finally trained myself out of those 10 minute first miles that I had all of 2005, it seemed) so I stopped to fix my right shoelace which was bugging me. Second mile even faster - 7:25 - amazing considering I'd lost 15 seconds or so on the damn shoe. Third mile was still good, but I didn't get a split. Somehow I missed the fourth mile marker but I knew I was about there when I hit the back water stop and rounded the turn. Amazingly, I'd just seen my buddy Ian who was (as usual) much faster than me and who lost me shortly after the start. When I realized I was at the turnaround I thought ... I might actually catch him! Amazingly, I did catch him walking up a hill just before mile 5. I ran past and it felt great - the first time I have *ever* passed that guy in a race. He's normally a good 30 seconds per mile faster than I am. I knew when I saw the 5 mile marker that I wasn't far enough ahead because he puts on a great sprint at the end, unfailingly. As ezpected, he did sprint past me at the end but only beat my time by a few seconds. He passed me just about the 6 mile mark. Overall, I am really pleased with the race. Can't wait for next year!

Wow. This was really "the" race of my season. I have been training hard on the hills and it paid off. Maybe, start a little slower so that I could sprint more at the end - though I still did well overall so maybe not ...

Love this race. Great volunteers, terrific race shirt - one of the best in the area, plus since this race is legendary for its hills, it's a great shirt to wear to other races to psych out the competition, LOL ...