Short n' Sweet:

10 miler in Bradford, PA.  Unofficial 1:01:16, 2nd place overall.

Deets:

The third race in a series of four of which I've DNSed the first two.  Fate finally smiled on me and threw no snowstorms or flat tires into the mix.  Bright sun and 40 degrees and DRY PAVEMENT. 

The field looked pretty small, everyone was just asked to line up in the street before a yelled "GO!" sent the runners off without even a marked start line. Three of us went out together from the start - me, a youngish guy, and Steve, with whom I had run the majority of the series' half last year.

The first couple miles felt easy and no one wanted to open it up really hard due to the remaining distance.  Steve and I chatted a bit and once again were stride for stride.  He mentioned that he wanted to break 1:00, and after a loop around the University campus, it was all business as the hills started.  By about 4.5 miles I was struggling to stay with him and said "go ahead if you've got it".  Beyond the 5 mile turnaround, he was on fire, and I was not.  The younger guy hadn't stayed with us, so the rest of the race felt more like a solo time trial.  Steve got far enough ahead that I couldn't rely on follow the leader for direction at all times.

Coming back into town, there were volunteers at several intersections.  The younger ones smiled and pointed out the correct path.  A few of the older ones seemed confused by queries about where to go, and I'm afraid that I was rude to one lady.  "Which way?"  "..."  Which way?" "...." WHICHWAYWHICHWAYWHICHWAY?!?!?" elicited a slight gesture and something indistinguishably sarcastic.  FFS, this isn't orienteering.

And then I was over it, and the race was over too.  1:01:16 was good for a 6:07 pace, and I was OK with that for having seriously curtailed my speedwork in the winter snow.  I shook hands with Steve (who had smoked his hour goal) and the 3rd place guy and we ran a cooldown while talking about upcoming marathon plans.

Great day to run, and a very fun, low-key race.  Looking forward to the half in a month.

Wowzers!  Great time.  I can't believe the course wasn't more clear, and that volunteers weren't more quick to help.  I'm glad you didn't get lost, but even a wrong turn or two, and you would have beat me.

Holy crap, you ran 10 miles in 61 minutes?  Yowsers.

Nice run, I know exactly what you mean by needing to know which way to go, now.  When I volunteered at the Ann Arbor marathon, I actually had to run to a second spot because it was confusing to runners.  A fact I pointed out to the organizers for next years event.

Don't feel bad about that, it is of the utmost importance to know where you are going at all times when running during an event.

You always amaze me, Jay!  With the move and all the training you've been doing in the snow/cold, you STILL managed to burn off a 6:07 pace 10 miler?  That race is just that much more impressive to me!  Come Spring/Summer?  ZOMG!  I can't imagine the paces you are going to run. Congratulations on placing second overall and proving once again that you are one of the fastest guys I know!  Bravo!

Wow congrats!!!! Awesome job!

By the way, my first 5 mile run I finished in that EXACT time. You are exactly twice as fast as me lol!

Excellent race.  Very nice pace!

Holy crap! Congrats! I hate when volunteers are confused. One time I volunteered and the course was different the year before, no one believed me when I told them to go a certain way. Freaked me out massively (I had it right though).