Success!

Here we are at the finish line! It was a great day for a morning run in Buffalo...about 60 degrees and sunny. My brother, Steve, my sister and her husband, and I all had great runs. I started out at a comfortable pace to see what my leg would be like, then started to run a little faster. For almost the first six miles, I followed a couple who was running at a good pace just over a nine minute mile and who provided motivational eye-candy.

On a loop around mile 8 I saw my brother a few blocks ahead of me. I decided to try and catch up with him, but I think he got worried and started running faster. I didn't see him after that. At mile 10, supporters cheering us on told us there were only two miles left, so I really picked up the pace (not realizing there really were 3.1 miles left). I felt great for the last three miles, running under 8 minute miles when I had been running over 9 minute miles in the beginning.

On the last straightaway to the finish line, I finally saw my brother about one block ahead of me. With only four blocks to go, there was no way I could catch up and he finished thirty-three seconds ahead of me. My official race time: 1:53:28. Julie and Don finished twenty minutes later, beating their last half-marathon time by 30 minutes.