I noticed something this morning preparing for the race: I had received what appeared to be a seeded bib despite last year’s 57:27 time in this event.

In registering, I’m sure I might have had some lofty goal such as 45 minutes… about 1:26 off my 10k PR… but nothing seed-worthy. I’m sure it was a mix-up involving people wanting to give out pretty red bibs with double digit numbers on them.

Of course, I didn’t remotely think about lining up in the seeded area, but perhaps I should have lined up in the area right behind it–with 3,000+ registrants, there are a lot of downsides to being modest about your abilities when lining up.

Weather was periodic drizzle and mild.

I lined up in about in an area where most people appeared capable of a 7-8 minute pace, and set my Garmin 305 to pace a 7’25” pace for 10 miles (46 minute 10k). By the first 1/4 mile, I had fallen 150 ft off that pace, and rapidly lost ground until about 300 ft. I slammed my tender right foot into the ground stopping for a wall of walkers, and limped for a few paces until the adrenaline overcame the soreness.

I managed to hit 7:45 pace for the first mile, despite the crowd. The second mile, I went on a passing frenzy. By the third mile, I had very little left. I managed to push it the 6th mile to salvage a respectable time–47:47–1 minute and 20 seconds off my PR from the 2008 Rodes City Run. I should have lined up better, but given my ankle issues and lack of conditioning recently, a decent performance.

Splits from my Garmin (6.25 miles. That’s either a very efficient run or a short course.)

1 Mi 7:45 7:45 7:45      
1 Mi 7:06 14:51 7:06      
1 Mi 7:55 22:46 7:55      
1 Mi 7:52 30:38 7:52      
1 Mi 8:05 38:43 8:05      
1 Mi 7:16 45:59 7:16      
0.25 Mi 1:45 47:44 7:00

Elevation Chart: