My purpose for this race was to get Sue across the finish line in 2:30 or better. We agreed that I would monitor the interval timing and she would manage the mile splits.

For the first mile, we dealt with the usual congestion levels. We started out racing in the dark and it was bit hard to see the watch, but we kept the 4/1 intervals through the first 5 miles.

With Rick and I leading the antics, we had the 'Whoop Whoop' rockin' in strong form and would have made Trixie proud. There were renditions from Grease, Oklahoma, Carousel, and Sir Mix-a-lot plus we took some requests from the audience.

At mile 5 I had to pull off for a pit stop and told Sue that she had 2 minutes to go and I'll catch back up to her.

After falling 4 minutes behind them, I picked up my pace to catch back up and re-surfaced in about 10 minutes. I asked about how they were doing and Sue said that they hadn't really done the intervals. So, I let them run until we got back into the cycle of running to the 4's and the 9's and walking.

At mile 8, we found Christine (who had been freezing outside) and got Diet Cokes and pop tarts.

As we were getting close to mile 10, we started calculating the time to get to the finish and Sue felt like she could run the last 5k. With only 1 walk break in that last 3.1, I was really proud that she pushed to make her goal, even though she said it didn't mean that much to her.


Nothing.

Went through the food line and had the best rice and beans, 2 bagels, and a banana.

Changed into warm clothing from the car and got my knee iced as a preventive.


This was the first time I had ever done a race as a pacer and had run for someone other than myself. As much as Sue kept saying "Go ahead and run", I was not going to leave her. I had promised to pace her through this and I was going to keep that promise.

I think that the next time I go for a PR, I'm going to have Rick there to pace me to it. He is just so fun to run with.