This is my second year running this race. It's a tough course, but a good challenge. I got to the race venue with an hour to spare. I did not want a repeat of the Orlando race. They had people in golf carts giving rides from cars to check in so since it was pretty dark, I went for a ride. :) Picked up my gear and shoe tag, then headed back to my car for more coffee and a Cliff bar.
Just before the race I met up with Renee, Karen and Amy. We chatted for a while before Renee headed to the front of the pack (she's fast!), while Me, Amy and Karen hung out in the middle of the group.
The race started out at the bottom of a grassy hill. We headed up it to cross the start line after the horn went off. I felt pretty good from the start, but knew it would be tough in the heat. No wind to be found. I had to dodge quite a few people who were moving slower than me, but there was a lot of space to get around people. Most of the race was on the grassy part of the golf course in the full sun. This means lots of rolling small hills. Every once in a while we got to run on the golf cart road.
I got a drink of water at the first water stop just before mile 2. Walked a bit while I drank, then started to run again. A woman breathing very loudly had been near me for a while. Even with my music on I could hear her! So I decided to speed up just for a bit to put some distance between us. Much better. :)
All those little hills and soggy grass were making my legs very tired! But I managed to keep a pretty good pace the last mile. Just before the finish line, when I was giving it all I had, a woman ran by me super fast! AARRGG!! That sucks!
My garmin time was 38:14. I beat last years time of 38:53, so pretty happy. :)
I've got a 23 mile run to look forward to next Saturday!
