This was the first and only race that all 3 Tourists carpooled to the same race together. I must thank Quick Chick hugely for dropping us off at the start and moving the car to the finish; it made this race livable. We got to the start about 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. In our hast to exit I firgot my Garmin.
Standing at the start line, the drizzle ended. Most people threw their rain ponchos (from race kit) away pre-race, me included. Weather was actually pretty good, the wind was at our backs almost all the time.
I started out easy, not knowing how I would feel running sick. Lots of slower runners to get past in the first 2 K. Its a nice enough course, very flat, curvy in spots, and rather scenic if you like rivers. I was thinking about the Great Lakes connection between here and Detroit next weekend. I had a couple of little annoyances; shoelace and pee call. Without my Garmin I was just guessing how I was doing. I tried staying near some well-paced people, but at this point most walked away from me. At around the 8 K mark I got my stride as usual. I started asking a few people about the time, but it was too hard to figure. I assumed I was headed for a 1:45ish finish. I saw Ultrarune at around 13 or 14 K, he was the guide for a blind runner. As I passed them, I heard him explaining to his charge about Dave and I and the stunt. I felt good and steady at this point, started passing more people. There were lots of mile markers, for the full and the half, but few K markers. With 3 miles left, I hit yet another gear. Not quite what I had at Ottawa Fall Colours, but I was easing past a lot of runners. After a bridge with 2 miles to go, I felt I was fading a bit, but it passed quickly. I noticed that I was still passing people, I just felt a bit beat. With 2 K to go, it started the 55 foot downhill to the finish. Big finish, heard but didn't see QG and Ed Fizz. Came across the line at 1:44:20 gun time. I wasn't sure what to expect, I was medium happy with this. My chip time was 1:43:04, 55 seconds off my PB, 2nd best ever. For a sicko, that's what i had today. On a good day, it would have been a PB course.
QC walked up, said she got a good pic of me at the finish.
