I started out a little slower than my normal pace. It was easy to maintain the slowness with all the traffic from people. It was rather annoying having to navigate around walkers though. After the first few miles, my dad and I sped up to a full race pace of 10 min/mi. I took my first gel pack after we crossed mile 5. It was generally the same distance I took one when on long training runs, so I decided not to change things. At around mile 6, my dad had to take a bathroom break and I went off on my own. I maintained my pace and the run started to get hard around miles 8 and 9. At 10, we were approaching Downtown and I got inspired by the buildings. I took another gel pack and sped up my pace again. The last couple of miles were easy and I did them at a pace of around 8:30. I saw my girlfriend waiting at the finish line and I smiled at her and crossed. This was my second half ever and I beat my first time by almost 10 minutes, setting my new personal record.

Nothing.

Just walked around and stretched. The race people were handing out blankets so we could stay warm. I was freezing in my sweat drenched clothes.


Nothing. I set a personal record and did great.


The post race was a mess. There was no way to get to Victory Park without being forced to go through the AAC. There were also no signs indicating this fact. Just some police officers blocking off the shortcut gate that I think was supposed to be open. A bit more organization in this area would have helped.