An estimated 9,000 attended both the half and full marathon yesterday morning. I arrived in the convention center a few minutes after seven am to attend the pacer pre-race meeting. I was assigned to pace the 3:45 group. A pacer is a runner that runs a consistent pace throughout the race and helps other runners stay on target. We were running 8:35 minute miles.I learned I would be pacing with John Teed, this meant good times and laughs were in order. I also met up with Bedford and DC. This kind of made up for my miss at Laurel Valley, and I had a chance to catch up.
On the asphalt, another successful year was had at the Thunder Road. After the halfway point a few more ultra guys popped up? Richard Lilly also came out of the woodwork after the midway point and finished with me and our pace group. Along with JT I was able to navigate a few runners to the finish just before our intended target finish time completing the 26.2 miles in 3:43:54. A few runners qualified for Boston with seconds to spare. It was a cool 27 degrees at the start, but felt warm compared to the brutal summit of Aconcagua with the wind speeds of 80 mph and a windchill of -40 degrees (more on this later). Richard and I decided to take the tops off and finish shirtless at the finish in a full sprint!
Other news on the run, John Crombez a friend PR'ed at 3:28:42. John Lewis finished his first official marathon in 3:55:26, and old time friend Assim promises to start training for a marathon next year!
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1 comment:
Nice job! It did not seem as cold as it was... quite comfy without any wind. Although that last stretch out away from downtown seemed a little colder than the rest of the course. Perfect situation for the tough miles of the Marathon.
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