It was Neese and her husband. We had a great prerace chat and some pics before I headed to the little boys room. When I came out Neese had already made her way to the start line and as I was walking up looking for her, I finally found her and we were able to start the race together.

After a few minutes the race started and we were off. My legs were real tight for the first half mile or so and then they loosened up. The first mile or so Neese and I were step for step and at around the mile and half mark she dropped back behind me. I thought she was right on my hip for a while but when I looked back I didn't see her. At mile 2 my legs felt strong but I just kept at or around the 11 minute mile pace. At mile 3 my 5k time was about 31:35 which is slower then my normal pace time so I decided it was time to pick up it up a bit. From that point I pushed to around a 9:40 minute pace and I just seem to get stronger. I did slow down on the hills a bit but was able to push through. In the last half mile there was one more hill to traverse and it nearly made me pass out as I slowed to about a 13 minute mile pace. When I finally reached the top I struggled for about 100 feet to recover but once I turned the last corner I was able to push back up to a 9:30 minute pace and finish strong. When I crossed the finish line I think the time read 51:15 but not sure. I forgot to stop my Garmin right away but when I did it read 51:21.

After getting some water and catching my breath I walked up the course a little to wait for Neese. I kept looking at the clock because I knew she wanted to come in around 55:00. As she turned the corner I decided to run the last 200 feet to help push her in and she finished under the 56:00 mark! WAHOO Congrats Neese. We talked for about 20 minutes or so and then came on home. I had a great time meeting Neese and her husband, fantastic people. It's amazing to me how these blogs bring people together. Thanks Neese for a great Saturday morning and Congrats on your run, you did great!:) - Jason The Running Man