At least I don't owe him my first born since he didn't run under 2:40!
As Chrissie and I scarfed a dozen donuts while watching the telecast on Universal Sports, we both agreed: we're glad we're not running. It looked absolutely awful. The good news is that everyone came out relatively unscathed, just a little worse for the wear. Don't let yesterday take away from your achievements, as Brennan is always quick to remind, it's about the journey. And I'll quote an old RM proverb: "May the road dip to your liking, may the wind always be at your back, may the sun be slightly covered by clouds and the temperature somewhere between 60 and 70 with low relative humidity, and may Coke be plentiful at the finish."
Needless to say, I'll leave the horror stories for dinner after track one night, but I will point out a few of the highlights.
Andrew Jaffe ran 2:48:40. This actually winds up being in line with the majority of his other marathons, on the worst possible day for a guy of Beef's size. Phil Turner was one of the few who ran close to an even split. He actually picked up the pace, from 6:45/mi through the Newton hills, to 6:30/mi to the end, to finish at 2:52:37. Just a few minutes off his PR. Jesse Jaeger was looking for a 2:30, adjusted his pace in the beginning, and finished at 2:48:12. Will Knox ran pretty even, and was only looking to run around 3 hours anyway, and Ploskonka, for doing a Ploskonka-like 200 mile relay on Friday, ran 3:13. Emily Hurley wasn't sure she'd be able to run at all due to hamstring issues, but started, and finished in 3:15:30 - inside the top 100 F. Last year she ran 3:01 and was 118th. Sometimes you just have to outlast the others. Joel Gladfelter, too proud to quit, finished in 4:33. Respect.
Perhaps the highlight of the day? Our men's open team actually finished 12th! We were about a minute off of Bull City (Durham) Track Club, featuring our boy Patrick Reaves, who had a monster day, running 2:36. Way to go guys!
Also, props to Meg McNew and Christa Wagner for being great supporters on the melting macadam.
Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week had to go to Beef. Amazing race, I don't know how you did it man.
Oh and be sure to read this. It'll make you feel better.
