Notes
2nd OA with 17:23 to Matt Pfau.... He runs 16:48 and started getting away from me as we started up the hill by the Armory. Darn 25 y/o legs!...can't hardly beat them.
Not sure what to do with this race. Mapped out at 3.10 miles on USATF site by Kelpe but my garmin read 3.05 miles at the end of the race. Could have been the garmin readings due to the hilly course. I do know Pfau cut over to the inside sidewalk on 3 turns to keep us off the road at street crossings and I was right behind him. Lots of s-curves on the first mile of the race to make good tangents. Oh well, as someone pointed out recently, "This ain't the pro's"'
Pfau leads the entire race except for about 100m as we near the 1 mile mark when I took the lead for just a few meters prior to falling back. Newly christened HM man Clayton Myers goes out with us and hangs on my R shoulder for about .90 miles prior to fading as we move up the incline on Themis street. Pfau has about 3m on me at the 1 mile mark then starts to widen it out as we move through Arena Park area. Has about 6 seconds on me as we cross over the bridge and head up toward the Armory then motors up the hill, leaving the rest of the field in the dust. I slog up the hill and can feel myself slow to LT level pace (10K work) as I come to the Independence/Gordonville crossing. Working hard but still feel in control and know I am running a solid race. Looking forward to getting to the the top of "the mountain".
I saw Pfau start his kick as he went by the round-about near SFMC and he was flat out flying for the final .35 miles of the race. My finishing kick was sub-4:30 pace and I was losing some major ground to him at the end. Clayton Myer finishes 3rd. Andy J and Joe W followed by Jay Townsend make up the top 6 finishers. Once again, the old men in the area show the youngsters a thing about racing and suffering on a hilly course.
Splits: 5:29/ 5:39 [11:08]/ 6:02 [17:10]/ :13sec for 4:23 pace on .05 miles. Running wide open on the last .15 miles of this course. Had to dodge the walkers doing the One Mile fun walk last during the final quarter mile.
Felt good today. Nice day to run and 312 people show up to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation.
**Toughest division of the day = 45-49 age group with 3 of the top 6 finishers in this group and Jay Townsend placing 3rd age-group with a 18:45..... salty.
*** Best part of the day was watching Brandon run his first indoor "true mile" at SIU early bird indoor meet. Goes 4:23, finishes 3rd and began the learning curve of running on indoor track. Went to Quattros Pizza to celebrate the event.
Concludes my racing for 2012. Will do a summary at the end of the year but have to say that I did not think I could top the success of 2011 season of racing but believe the 2012 campaign was even better.... Long live CBEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!