Ramblin Rose Race Report

"I'd like to say that no matter how I do, I will be fine with finishing. But I know I will be disappointed if I don't make my time goal."

Official time: 2:40:03.

Big sigh.

At first look, I was really disappointed. But then I thought about it. Miles 1-7 were flat and maybe some gentle rolling hills. Not bad at all. I was on pace for a 2:25 finish. I was feeling good. Right around mile 7 on Anderson street the hard core hills started. One after the other. Having already run 7 miles and no real hill training to speak of, my pace slowed to a walk for most of them. In the end, I am ok with my results. I am not going to let 10 minutes difference on a really challenging course take away from what I did.

The race was great. Really well organized. The vibe was great. Over 1800 women and a handful of men. Brent and Morgan popped up 3 times on the East Campus and a couple of times over in Forest Hills. It was nice to see and hear them. Morgan always ran to give me a hug. Running with the Triangle Moms was nice too. It was nice to see some familiar faces along the way.

The weather was good as well. It was pretty cold (about 45 degrees) while we were standing around waiting to start. My arm warmers were a big help, although I had them off within the first mile of the race. By the end of the race it was about 65. So overall the weather was perfect.

My most memorable moment came in the end of the race. I had been following this one woman for the last 4 or so miles and went to pass her late in mile 13. I told her I had been following her for miles and thank her for that. She laughed and I moved on. Turning the corner to Blackwell St I saw they had moved the finish line way up the road and my heart sank. My tank was empty. I started walking. This woman caught up to me and grabbed me by the arm and said "NO!, you are not walking this in. Let's go!". She got me up the road when all I wanted to do was stop. I am so grateful for this stranger to get me across the line.

Here's the course map though:


And my splits:

MILE	TIME	AVG. PACE
1	10:47	10'47"/mi
2	21:13	10'26"/mi
3	31:47	10'34"/mi
4	42:24	10'37"/mi
5	53:55	11'31"/mi
6	1:05:27	11'32"/mi
7	1:15:55	10'28"/mi
8	1:28:39	12'44"/mi
9	1:41:35	12'56"/mi
10	1:55:33	13'58"/mi
11	2:08:31	12'58"/mi
12	2:21:01	12'30"/mi
13	2:34:25	13'24"/mi