Well, Patty and Sue told me they were aiming to do a 10-minute pace, which is what I wanted to do, in order to finish at 2:10. The first mile we did around 9:15, mile 2 = 9:22, we decided to ease up a bit...mile 3 = 9:44...mile 4 = 9:43. At that point, I felt that this pace would be unsustainable throughout the rest of the race and told Patty and Sue to go on ahead and that I'd catch up later.... Mile 5 = 10:10, Mile 6 = 10:00, much better.... Hit the half-way point at 1:03. Good, felt strong and relaxed. However, the wind kicked up as I rounded around for the second loop. Miles 7 and 8 were in the 10:20 range as I ran into the head wind.... Mile 9 around 10:00... Spotted Patty and Sue up ahead. Patty is running crooked and Sue's form is shot to hell. I pick up the pace on the other side of the river (hooray tailwind!). Mile 10 = 9:43, Mile 11 = 9:36. I pass Patty, she says she feels lousey.... Sue is up ahead and we kicked up the pace a bit and ran together for about 1/2 mile. She too, says she feels lousey. I leave her behind. I miss the mile 12 marker. The finish line to the race is in a minor league baseball stadium. You get to enter the field and run around the warning track to the finish line. Spectators are in the stands cheering, the announcer announces some names (not mine this year). Woo Hoo -- great finish! Patty and Sue are about a minute behind.

Water and gatorade stations were @ two miles apart, so all I carried was 2 Gu packets, which I took at @ 40 minutes and 1hr 20 minutes. Felt well-nourished and hydrated. The nice cool weather was perfect for running! This was a PB for me.

Well, at first I was annoyed with Patty and Sue for starting out too fast, but in hindsight, I'm glad because it challenged me just right. It's a race afterall, not just a LSD session.

Walked around and stretched a little. They have great post-race eats. chicken noodle soup, minestrone, yummy baked beans, PB & J, bananas, oranges, candy....
I loaded up a box of grub and sat in the stands, watching other racers come in. The first marathoner came in around 2:40-ish. We witnessed a marriage proposal at the finish line (she said yes). Ate, got my bag of clothes, said goodbye to Patty and Sue, and walked back to my car.


Nothing. I felt no ill effects of running the 5K the day before.


This is the 3rd time I've done this race. Maybe next year the full??