Notes
Craziest race ever. Splits were 1:05, 2:22, 3:38, 4:51.
2nd seed ran the two mile so I got bumped to seed 2 in lane 7. As expected the first turn was hectic and I was forced into the second lane. Ran in 5th or 6th place for the first lap and split 65 seconds. Before the turn I jumped into third and forced the Evergreen guy from last week into the outside on the turn. Started to get comfortable and on the back stretch I settled in behind the leader who was also the top seed. Wind was really bad there so I drafted him. Exiting turn 4 for the home stretch I tried to surge past him, but he matched me and I popped back in behind him. Did the exact same during lap 3: settle behind him on back stretch, then try to pass him out of the final turn. By the time we got to the gun lap we had gapped the field and were about 4 seconds ahead of my teammate in 3rd. He proceeded to take off, but I stayed a two strides right in behind him. Started to gap me, but I closed it in the turn. Final stretch now...
With the wind at my back now I pulled from behind him into lane 2. At that point I really wanted to quit but then I heard everyone getting excited and figured I had to try. We both kicked at about the same speed, with me just barely creeping up right next to him. Side by side, we bumped elbows about 10 yds. shy of the finish, and I lost my balance. I started stumbling forward and finally fell over... across the line. I got the unofficial win, but it wasn't confirmed because I fell below the laser timer. They announced that the photo finish had given me the win.