Notes
Garmin says 6.28 miles, 55:59.04, 8:55 pace. It did seem to measure long, but I have replaced the values here with the official results.
Got up at 5:00 (actually before 5, because I woke up 5 minutes before the alarm). Bathroom, got race clothes on, trotted dog around the block, said bye to DW, then got in the car. I realize now I didn't even consider eating something, and that was fine; I don't think it was needed.
Got to the stadium around 6:20. Smoke from Canada wildfires wasn't too bad, and the thunderstorms that had been a concern did not pan out. Jogged to the packet line - it was LONG. They seemed to be out of all shirts except small, so maybe GD gets it. Back to the car and pinned my bib on. Lined up, then heard that the race was delayed by 10 minutes. They still had the PPU lines. I got out of line and wandered around. When I lined back up, ran into Marcus E, and we chatted about retirement & work, etc.
When I got through the chute, legs were feeling good, and I had hopes of it being a good race for me. Mile 1 turned out to be the fastest, being downhill, and, surprise surprise, mile 6 was the slowest. Had a mile of dodging goose poop. Went back and forth with a few runners, but by the last 2 miles, we had all pretty well settled in. Maybe there will be some decent pics of me - I think I spotted the photographers in time to not look too stupid.
Through the finish, and got my water and a freeze pop (appreciated). Talked to Brian F, then went and got my corn and watermelon and sat with Marcus and his son Luthor. The corn was meh - better Nebraska corn might have been pretty good - and the watermelon was tasty. Went to the car and checked results on my phone. Saw that I was 1AG, so I went back for my award. As we were waiting, a guy was complaining to someone that he missed 1AG by 2 seconds...sure enough, I was his nemesis. He was nice at the podium, anyway. John Ritland is his name.