Hard to call it a race when I didn't go very fast :) But it was a race! So, the numbers:
Miles: 13.1
Time to finish: ~1:42
Time spent walking: ~10 minutes (bad stitch!)
Finished: 13 out of ~700 in my category
... and here is the story behind the numbers ... The race started off ok. I've been having what i can only classify as shin splint issues on my left leg, one of my friends refers to this as my 'wimp spot' so i will too :) So my wimp spot was really bothering me but i knew i wanted to finish so instead of fighting the pain i just relaxed into it. I think this was the best for the long run b/c it meant i didn't run funny. After a while the pain became my friend :) Once I relaxed into a nice stride the first half of the run was decent ... i was on target to beat 1:40 so i was somewhat happy with that ... but i didn't feel like i was pushing so i figured i could pick up the pace for the second half.
I had to take a bathroom break at the 1/2 way point and then ended up with a wicked stitch ... I tried walking for about 2 minutes, then realized it wasn't going away so i may as well run thru it. It was pretty painfull for about 10 minutes ... i don't think i was running very fast. More like a slow motion jog ... ok, i was basically walking :) Thankfully it subsided to a more managable pain just before the big climb and i really enjoyed the slow hill climb. At the bottom everyone was passing me and I felt really slow ... but by the time we got to the mid-way pont i was passing people back ...it felt good. I started picking up the pace over the hill.
Over the hill it got really cold. I'd been pretty warm up to this point and wasn't expecting it. My legs seized up on me and my quads were like dangling blocks of ice. The race turned purely mental at this point and I had no idea how far left in the race (or how long i'd been running - i couldn't find my watch the morning of the race) ... so i just kept running. Once people around me were speeding up i figured we were close to the end and then started recognizing street signs. I couldn't convince my ice block-legs to go faster so i just paced it out to the finish. I didn't break 1:40 so wasn't really happy with my time ... but not too bad i guess. But of course now i have to do another one ... i want to go faster :)
