Notes
Start was really skinny. Only like 4-5 runners wide. They need to widen that out. :-/
At least they sorted people by race pace. I got in with the 6 minute milers and faster. Ended up pretty close to the start, and not real crowded. The official stats said I took 2 seconds to get to the start line. Whatever.
Started maybe just a bit fast, and then settled in. First mile is slightly downhill, and I felt pretty decent. After about a half mile I was running next to the 2nd place gal in about 13th place. She kept checking her watch like crazy.
Hit the 1 mile mark in 5:42. Faster than I expected. I decided to let the gal go. Probably good, cuz she decided the pace was too slow and picked it up. I was about 5 seconds or so behind two other guys working together. I wanted to see if I could work my way up to them.
2nd mile was uphill. Came through in 6:09. I was a bit surprised it was that slow, but didn't panic. I felt good about my effort and I was gaining in elevation the whole time. I didn't make up any ground on the two in front. Probably lost a couple seconds. No one behind me.
3rd mile also uphill. This is the toughest part. Not horrible, but continuous and slightly steeper. Came through in 6:15. A quick mental calculation said I was a few seconds behind 6 minute pace. I had pushed slightly over the line finishing off the hill. I was now probably 12 seconds behind the two guys in front of me.
4th mile was back down. I started letting the hill do its work, and got back under control a bit. I was pushing and at about the amount of pain I should be. Time was 5:56. Right on pace I thought. Just work the last mile.
5th mile was mostly downhill with a bit of flats. I just could not reel in the two guys ahead. They really started racing each other over the last half mile and I couldn't match it. Did have a fairly strong finish. 5:40 for that not quite mile.
13th place overall. 2nd in my age group. (winner was 28 low.)
Happy with the effort, and the result. Winner was 25:20ish. Definitely The two guys ahead of me beat me by 18 seconds and 20 seconds. Next guy behind me was almost a minute behind.