I was a little nervous this morning, but my main plan was to enjoy the race and finish it. My big goal was to place in the top 3 in females, so I was hoping there wasn't a whole lot of women in the 15k distance. It was 55 degrees when I got up so I wore my shorts, short sleeves and my new shoes. Mom came over to watch Dorian, even though it was warm enough it was still damp and I didn't want him out in it.

   It was about 57 degrees when we got to Angel Mounds, but the windchill definitely made it a bit nipply. I was looking around, there wasn't a lot of runners so I was hoping and praying that I might place in the top 3.

   We started off at 9 a.m for the first 5k lap, I didn't want to go too fast because I figured most people were doing the 5k and very few were running the 15k (I was hoping).

Mile 1 - 8:50

Mile 2 - 9:06

Mile 3 - 9:12

   I saw quite a few people dropping off at the 5k mark, the two women who had gotten in front of me were still ahead but I think one of them had dropped at the 5k mark. Around 3.5 on the levee I saw the other woman up ahead about 50-75 feet but I was still hoping she was doing the 10k. I was still doing really good, the trails were awesome and I pulled my shirt off around 3.3 miles.

Mile 4 - 9:00

Mile 5 - 9:17

Mile 6 - 9:15

    A lot more people had dropped off at the 10k finish, so I was feeling more and more positive that I was going to place well. I could no longer see the other woman so I hoped and prayed she had dropped at the 10k distance. I was feeling a little more tired, as I got back into the woods I walked for a few seconds before saying screw it and started back up with running. I told myself I only had one more lap to run and I would be done, I could keep this pace and not let anybody pass me. I was thinking to myself "I could run a 13.1 mile race out here", I could hear someone way back behind me but I didn't see this other girl until after mile 8 but luckily she was in the relay so she wouldn't count in the overall 15k distance.

Mile 7 - 8:50

Mile 8 - 9:23

Mile 9 - 9:13

.3      -  8:02

     It took a lot to keep going even when I wanted to walk, as I came up on the finish I kept wondering where I had placed but felt great to finish. I finished the 9.3 miles in 1:24:04 with an average pace of 9:02 min/mile.

Finish Results:

Chip Time: 1:24:18

Overall in 15k: 5th out of 19

Female: 2nd out of 8

The woman who had stayed ahead of me from the start had won 1st place overall in the female group for the 15k distance, DH said she finished about 10 minutes before me. I am still happy that I placed in the top 3, I placed 2nd for women and 5th out of 19 runners in the 15k distance. Awesome.

I'll post pictures at some point.

Great race. Congrats on meeting your goals and being the 2nd place woman.

Nice job, Freesoul and nice finish.  It's a double edged sword not knowing how you stand in the race.  Maybe it pushed you a bit more not knowing who had dropped at the other distances.

Nice job, and 2nd place too, congrats!

Good job.

I wish there were a few shorter races like this in my area. I think I'd enjoy running something that wasn't quite a 1/2 but more then a 10k.

Great job..your number two hoot hoot your number two ...  we need dancing bananas

Way to go !!!!  Great run and report.

Thanks.