22:27
54 of 645
New Years Day. Getting up to run a race when the entire world seems to be still sleeping. If that doesnt seem crazy enough, then throw in temperatures hovering just below freezing. Just like last years race except this year, I was in shorts. I learned my lesson after wearing compression pants during last years race. They felt great while I was standing in the crowd waiting for the race to start, but within the first mile they were way to hot.
One of the other changes from last year was the course. Technically, it was the exact same course as last years race. The only difference being that at just past mile 1 a course monitor got a little confused about where the turnaround needed to be and as the lead pack passed her and turned in the correct location, she began waiving off the rest of the runners and sending them approximately another 1/8th mile down the road to another turnaround. This made my overall distance turn out to be 3.35 miles. Of course this also added to my time unfortunately. Oddly enough, although I was 22 seconds slower than last years race because of this, I still finished higher in the final results. Last year I came in at 97th compared to 54th this year. All in all a good start to the year and I got my second "Top 100" glass!
I was a little disappointed in the lack of hospitality that Calhouns showed this year. At last years race there was a lot of comradery before and after the race as runners all hung out in the restaurant and ate. This year though there was no breakfast served in the restaurant after the finish, only very light snacks served outside in the cold. The season ending awards ceremony for 2014 was also very hurried as Calhouns wanted us all completely gone before 11:00 am. Very disappointing seeing as they were the primary sponsor of this event as well as several others throughout the year.
After another full season of training I hope to move up even further in the finishing order next year though and get my third "Top 100" glass!
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