I must say this is still my favorite half marathon. Had a great time at it again. Headed down last night and got our packets. Got our room, watched some Polynesian dancing and called it a night. There was a fire going on at Bryce Canyon so there was some smoke in the air. But wasnt to bad. And for the most part I slept well last night. Goals for this was to get under 1:37 at least (7:26 pace). And if possible run it between 6:50 to 7:10. Really didnt want to go over 7:10.
We caught the bus going up to Ruby's in Tropic and headed up to the start. Get there in time to warm up and see Walter and Mary Ann at the starting line. After talking to Walter for a few secs saw Cal and joined him at about 10 people back from the starting line. Decided to run with Cal as long as we could till he dusted me. The first 2 miles are somewhat flat and you could see a haze from the fire all around. But it wasnt to bad. Then came the downhill portion. Cal and I just chugged along through here till around mile 5 or so. When we ran into an older guy. Was a nice guy that would tell us a few jokes to take our minds off of the work at hand for a time. Till he said our pace dropped below 7:00 pace and would pull ahead of us. Around mile 10-11 is where Cal caught back up with me and pulled away from me on the hill at around 11.5. It was great to run with him for a time and really appreciated the company even though we didnt talk to much. I believe he ended up about 30 secs ahead of me at the end. The poor wife add some issues on the course and came in a bit later then planned which had me worried. But she made it and all is well. Cheered Dale into the finished and congratulated Walter on taking 2nd in our AG. With a time of 1:14 I was very impressed. The guy in 3rd was 1:15. Really made me wonder what time the 4th place guy came in since I was 5th in the AG at 1:30. Which for me is a 1 min and 5 sec PR from last year at the same race. Man I just love this race.:) And I cant wait to head down and do it again next year. So here are the splits. Mile 1 7:08 Mile 2 7:01 Mile 3 6:18 Mile 4 6:31 Mile 5 6:49 Mile 6 6:40 Mile 7 6:53 Mile 8 6:50 Mile 9 7:12 Mile 10 6:56 Mile 11 7:03 Mile 12 7:28 (issues at aid station, and got out of my groove) Mile 13 7:17 Mile .1 30sec 5:56 pace
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