A fantastic run, and with fantastic people. We coordinated really well, and there were 2 of us who ran the first six miles, and we picked up 4 more for the next nine before losing 2 runners for the next couple miles. After that we had to wait a little while for the 5k race to start (it was 15-20 minutes behind schedule), so we had some recovery time.

There were a lot of inexperienced racers there today, and the same goes for the people who designed and worked on the course, which was even more aggravating. There were at least four turns that were more than 120 degrees, and even though there were tons of volunteers, they all seemed to cluster in the areas where the course was obvious, and there were times when I actually had to dodge a course marshal because she wasn't paying attention.

I was probably in 20th or so after the first mile even though I went out at a 6:00 pace or so, and I know many of them would crash hard before the finish. I wasn't sure I wouldn't completely burn out before the race was done, but figured why the hell not? So even though I missed a couple turns at first, I kept gaining on and passing people up. I didn't realize it until a little after the finish line, but I came in second, crossing in about 18:09*. The winner beat me by more than a minute, and third place, who had done the last 11 miles before the race with us, finished basically beside me (though he missed the first detour I made, which cost me several seconds).

*The race, according to my garmin, was 2.95 miles, including the little extra pieces I did. They had a "2 mile" mark less than 1.5 miles into the race.