1:12:38 and 2nd Place: I got what I deserved in this race. I have been hanging on mentally with training and being strict with all the little things. I'm pretty sure I peaked a month ago at the Eugene Half but I hung on for another month. The course and weather were perfect so a fast time was there for me. However, I just didn't quite have it physically or mentally to really run a great time. All that being said, I ran a good time and was satisfied with the race. It's about what I thought I would do by the time race day arrived. Originally, I thought I high 1:10 would be possible. If I would have had the day I had in Eugene it probably would have been because of the great course and weather. This is just my opinion but I think the course is probably worth about 1 min due to the nice downhill miles 2-7. It's about 40-50 ft per mile and is not too downhill to beat up the quads. From 7 to the finish it's pretty flat so there are no hills to worry about. The only downside to the well organized race was the lack of atmosphere. The crowds were very sparse and I ran by myself the whole way. As far as the race goes the first place guy who ran a 1:09 was out ahead of me right away and we stayed that way the entire race. Much of the first half of the race was on a nice bike path but I felt like I was out doing a hard workout by myself with no one around. Most of my miles were in the 5:25-5:30 range on the downhill portions. When the course flattened out I dropped to 5:37-5:40 the rest of the way before finishing strong with a 5:25 for mile 13. I struggled those last 4-5 miles and definitely didn't have "it" that I needed to take advantage of the great conditions. Don't get me wrong, I gave a full effort in this race just didn't have what it took for a top performance. I would recommend this race as the course is fast and it is well organized and in a great area. If you come in ready you could pop a big one here. I am going to take a break now and hopefully run easy the rest of the summer. | 