I packed everything up carefully the night before the race, going through my checklist a couple times, as I haven't been to a race in a few years.
Slept ok-ish and had my banana, coffee, and water for breakfast on the way to the race.

Jogged around a little bit, chatting with other runners. Stretched and loosened up really well, got my playlist ready to go (this was a headphone allowed race!), and settled the nerves down.
While I haven't raced in a long time, I was really hoping to finish in just under an hour, and built myself a race "activity" on my Garmin Forerunner to guide me through the race at the right paces.

I felt good throughout the race, even though I went out way too fast in the first mile, trying to get it back down to 10:05-10:00 for the next couple of miles. The crowd was hyped, the runners were having fun, and I let myself get carried away. I settled in and re-focused, enjoying a solid run.

Slow down just a touch at the start.

Walked around, got some water, made my way back to my car. Stretched at the car.

Achilles issues throughout the summer and into the fall.

Two main complaints about this race:
- Location (down at the plaza) was not scenic at all
- The course was long (6.33) and the finish was uphill with no view of the finish line or mile markers until about 200 feet from the finish line. Wasn't sure when to truly start the final kick.