The weather was good but the course, as I remember it from last year, is very difficult. Pretty much nothing but hills from start to finish - starting with a nice juicy one over the first mile. My goal was to PR and hopefully pull a 7:30 pace - doable I would think as I ran a 7:41 pace for the 10 miler in Beverly two weeks ago. Aaron and Ellen were hoping to break an hour (they are running for a qualifying time for the corrals in the Disney World Half Marathon next January).
Here we are we are prior to the start of the race (all pictures courtesy of Tricia):
And here are Ethan and me waiting for the start of the 10K:
and here is Ellen getting a good start:
I stayed with Ethan for about the first 3 miles when he gradually began pulling away. He was a few hundred yards ahead of me by the last mile, then took it up a notch in the last half mile and I lost sight of him. The hills on this course really do a number on your pacing. It's just impossible to get into a solid groove because you are either working up hill or falling downhill. I never really got settled and never got close to the 7:30 pace I was hoping for (my best mile was about 7:45). In the end, I barely ran 8 minute miles and finished in 49:28, about 50 seconds faster than I did the course last year, which isn't saying much as I've dropped my half marathon time by more than 6 minutes since that time.
Ethan ran steady and strong and finished well, posting a time of 48:17. Aaron and Ellen both broke an hour, Aaron finishing in 57:19 and Ellen in 57:24.
Here is Aaron, me and Ethan passing the same point about a quarter mile from the finish:
Next up for me is the Triple Threat Half Marathon on August 2. Another difficult course. Aaron, Ellen and I are also planning to run one more 10k before October - this time a flat to get the best time they can. I imagine they can drop a couple of minutes off of their 10k times simply by running an easier course.
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