Started out about five minutes behind the line and slowly weaved my way into a comfortable position, dodging stroller parents and small children and walkers and various other things the whole time. After about five minutes I started cramping - and it wasn't a running cramp, it was a girl cramp - and actually grabbed water at the first water stop. At the two mile mark I looked down at my watch and I was at 19:30, which is a bit faster than my normal pace, and I slowed up a bit after that. Kept going and grabbed some more water at the third stop and poured it on my head, as it was getting kind of hot and I was still cramping. Sprinted to the finish as I entered the stadium and I actually had to wait about 15 seconds to step on the timing mat since people were falling over trying to take their chips off immediately after the finish line, which was a little annoying.

Start out a bit slower and start much, much, much closer to the line as there was a lot of weaving going on.

Waited about fifteen minutes to get out of the stadium, where they were funneling ten thousand people through one gate. Grabbed some water and an apple and walked home.


Uh, female parts (which stayed crampy for another few hours - definitely not running cramps). I should also get some more actual long runs in as my "long runs" have been slightly more than four miles over the last few weeks.


Fun local race. It's weird to run with that many people.