Let me set the scene for you. Since I didn't take my phone with me on the run, I didn't get any pictures. I'll see if I can find some online and post them later. Meanwhile, you'll have to deal with my description. Along the south side of the theater, they had about 40 feet of orange snow fence lining each side of the street. At the start line, they had a rubber mat type thing extending from curb to curb. This mat served as the electric timing starter. The orange strip that I mentioned earlier had to be attached to one's shoe. The RFID then triggered the start timer and end of the race when you passed over the rubber mats. Next to the start line, they had a sign that read, "6 minute pace". About 15 feet behind that sign, there was another sign that read, "7 minute pace". Similar signs marked back to the 10 minute pace area at the end of the snow fence. The roads surrounding the race area had been blocked off and the Maumee police were doing a stellar job with traffic and crowd control. The finish line was on Conant street and it was marked with a similar mat to the start line. In addition to the mat, the finish line had an inflatable arch that we would run through. Ropes extended from the inflatable arch back to around the front doors of the theater. This is affectionately known as The Corral. The corral is more important when they're not using cool little RFID tags.

The course went from Williams to Ford to Wayne and then we turned around at a spot just beyond where Wayne crosses to Monclova Rd. On the way back, we ran Wayne all the way to Conant and then turned left on Conant and back up to the theater.

I parked over in the old Pharm parking lot and walked over to the starting line. Clearly there was still some time to kill, so I did what everyone else was doing. I ran. I did a warm-up out to Ford Rd and back. Then, I ran back to the car to get my gloves which I had forgotten. Well, maybe not forgotten. More like I didn't really believe that I'd need them. When I did that last warm up run, I decided that they were a good idea after all. As time neared to start the race, nerves started to get the best of me. They were discussing how the start of the race would work and what to expect along the way. The race director explained that our time wouldn't start until we passed over the mat and triggered our personal timer with the RFID tag. He introduced us to Santa and Mrs. Claus who would also be running the race. Every runner who finished ahead of Santa would get a free movie pass. Every female runner who finished ahead of Mrs. Claus would also get a free pass. To make it more of a challenge, the Claus family were fast runners and they'd be starting at the very back of the pack. All you had to do was keep Santa from passing you. Since, as I said, nerves were getting the best of me, I stopped listening once I was sure I had the basic information that I'd need and I went and ran some pick-ups. Pick-ups are runs where you start out slow and you pick up speed until you're in an all-out-sprint near the end. They get the heart pumping and get you thinking about speed and working hard. They may even do more - perhaps coach td can speak to that - than that, but these are the things they accomplish for me. When I returned to my spot in the start chute, I looked around and saw 3 guys from work, three people from St. Pats and coach td. I spoke briefly with the guys from work and wished coach td good luck. Then, the gun sounded.

One thousand people made their way through the starting chute, across the timing mat and onto the 3.1 mile course. I liked having some idea of what speed the runners around me expected to run. I had assumed a spot just in front of the "8 minute pace" sign because I expected to run 7:45 miles. I could only assume that the people around me expected to run similar times. I didn't ask anyone. There were some moments in the first mile where I wondered if I was running fast enough. There were other moments where I was sure that I was right on pace. When I got to the first mile marker, I was a little surprised to see that I completed the first mile in 7:36. I wasn't surprised because I didn't think I could be that far ahead of my goal, but because I really felt fresh and that I could keep up that pace the whole way. Normally, at about the 1.5 mile mark, my brain kicks in and starts to tell me what a silly thing I'm doing and how it would be really nice to stop. Today, that didn't happen. We got out by the U-turn point and I was watching for coach td coming back the other way. When I could actually see the spot where people were turning around, I assumed that I'd missed him and that he'd already passed by. I was wrong. I wasn't that far behind him! There may have been about 100/150 yards between us. If memory serves, coach td said his first mile split time was 7:12, so that's about right. 30 seconds is about 100 yards at the speed we were running. I called out to him as we passed, "Go Tim!". I was still really feeling good at the turn-around. Just past that turn around point, one of the girls that I had been keeping pace with started to fall back. I gave her some words of encouragement and hoped that she would keep up with me. She said she was getting a cramp.

At the second mile marker, they had a guy standing there calling out times. As I approached, I told myself that anything under 16:00 would make me super happy. As I passed, the guy called out, "15:24"! Fifteen minutes and twenty four seconds for two miles! That's... fast! Now, I really felt jazzed. I knew that I could keep up the current pace. About 200 yards later, I started to get a cramp in my side. Right now, I couldn't even tell you which side it was. I think it was on the right, but I can't be sure. It wasn't severe and I was pretty sure I could deal with it. I leaned in a bit more and concentrated on my breathing. Then I got passed by 3 guys that I'd been hearing behind me for the past 2 miles. They were obnoxious and loud. One was dressed as a abominable snowman or something. Could I let these morons pass me? Could I let them actually beat me? I think not. Once the cramp subsided, I kicked it in and kept the three of them within catching distance. When we rounded onto Conant for the final push, I tried to figure out where to make my move.

I think I made my move too soon. Or, at least I thought so when I was about 200 feet from the finish. I had put about 15 people in my rear view once I started sprinting to the finish. Along that sprint, I heard, "Go Coach Pete" from my left. I have no idea which one of my runners it was. I couldn't even tell you if it was a boy or a girl. Then, I heard "Go Pete!" from coach td. I also heard lots of people yelling, "Here comes Santa!" I felt like I was running out of gas. I checked my six and saw that nobody was making a move on me and that I'd sufficiently put the other in my dust. Santa was nowhere in my view when I made the quick turn of my head. There were only three other runners ahead of me. I could let them go. What's the harm? Nobody would know... except me. I decided that I had already hurt myself plenty with my sprint and that a little more wouldn't be so bad. I passed all 3 of them. One, I beat by about 1/2 a step as we crossed the mat. I didn't see my time when I crossed. I did hear the announcer say that they were at the 24:00 point as I made my way to the end of the corral. TWENTY FOUR? I was already in the chute and they were just at the 24:00 mark! Once I got out of the chute, I walked around in front of a police car and dropped to my butt. I sat on the ground just breathing for about 15 seconds. Then, I got up and walked back toward where I'd heard/seen coach td who had been walking my way. When he saw me getting up, he asked, "What was that?" pointing at the spot where I'd just collapsed. "That?" I said, "That was me losing a lung!"

We walked together back to the corner of Wayne and Conant talking about our races. coach td was not happy with his result. I was. Then, we walked and jogged back to the theater. We grabbed our clothes from the ground by the start line and went inside for some refreshments and to get the final official times. Inside, we grabbed a cup of Power Aid, a piece of bagel and a chunk of banana. Then, we made our way into the main part of the theater where our times were posted. My overall pace was 7:38. I finished 11th in my age group (40-44)! My official finish time was 23:40!