Oregon Weekend, Day 3 (Race Day)

The Morning started at about 5:15 local time (about 45 minutes earlier than expected no thanks to Coach Mikel.) Started off with breakfast (1 bagel) and vitamin water. At about 6:30 we made our way to the starting line.

7:00 the race started. I started running a 3 hours and 40 minute pace (my goal time). I started out at about the right pace. At about mile 6 I lost our pace setter and went out on my own. This would either be a good idea or bad idea, I am still not sure which one it is right now. The race was going well early. At about the half way mark I was 2 and a 1/2 minutes head of pace. Things continued to go well until about mile 23. Here is the deal with marathons. It is 26.2 miles of adventure that will go bad at some point. You just dont know when. The good news for me is that it didnt go bad until mile 23. I kept a good pace up until that point, then my legs got very heavy and tiered. I was able to keep going however without walking. My officail finishing time was 3 hours 38 minutes and 16 seconds which is about 2 minutes faster than the time I ran 2 years ago and is a post college personal record.
Also a not, there were a pear of bets associated with the races today. First off, was the race between the eliete marathon runner, Aaron Hoover and coach Mark "pappy" Mikel. The bet was that Coach could run a half marathon time that was faster than Aarons full marathon time. The Results: Aaron runs a time 45 seconds faster than coach.
Bet #2 and the MAIN EVENT was Mark "I had shin pains for 2 months" Davidhizar vs. Rick "I may have a strained Calf" Stuckey. The bet was that I would run a faster Marathon time than Rick, the catch was that there was age calculater that would be used to even out the field. After punching in the numbers before the race and what we were both aiming to run, I had to run 20 minutes faster than Rick. Well all this because a mute point when Rick dropped out of the race with cramps in the calf in question. So the "Young Pups" as we have been called all weekend, won the bets and were treated to a burger and beverage of our choice.
Overall the trip was awesome. However there just wasnt enough time to to see it all and enjoy Eugene more. I would love to come back again and run the Marathon.