Notes
Went out a bit fast at the start. I was with the 7:14 pace runner for about the first 3 miles. It felt comfortable until we hit a slight headwind. I slowed down quite a bit and was passed by a steady stream of stronger runners. After the turnaround point (just past mile 7), the wind was at my back and it felt easier. Around mile 11, the 7:39 pace runner caught up to me and urged me on. I tried hard to keep up, but I struggled and started to fall back a bit. Then, after mile 12, there was a turn off of Shepard Road back up a very steep hill. I passed a number of runners that had pulled away from me earlier, and I caught back up with the pace runner. He was awesome! He was in my face to keep pushing to beat the 1 hour 40 minute finish time, and he was giving me a countdown in seconds to finish the race. "90 seconds!!" "60 seconds!! You're almost there." "30 seconds in your entire f#@&ing life -- Run!!!" I crossed the finish line at 1:39:58 by the official clock. By the chip timer, I finished in 1:39:49, which is a 7:39 pace. I was very pleased with this result.