So the start was on the south side of the Mill Ave. bridge. The 566 female participants started first with a 3:00 head start over the men. I lined up in the front, second row. Once we started, we began catching BOP female runners while still on the bridge. The course become VERY crowded and I had to dodge, swerve, run off course a lot over the first mile until the female crowd thinned out enough but it was fun. The course wasn't easy with 140 feet of climbing. I had figured I would catch Jamie somewhere around 2.25 miles. As I ran down Curry to the turn, I saw Jamie coming the other way climbing the hill and she looked GREAT...and still kind of far ahead of me! I was concerned she might have to wait for me at the line!

I was running really well, not 100% but 90-95% for sure. I was passing a lot of men who had gone out way too fast. That was fun and I'm glad I know my pacing so well. I wore a watch for time, but no GPS or HR, I just went at the pace that felt right. As I cam back by the beach park, I finally could see Jamie up ahead. I caught her just as we turned back onto the Mill Ave. bridge at mile 2.6 (I measured the mileage later). She was hurting from the effort but her ITB was good. We ran together across the bridge and I kept encouraging her and pointing out how close we were to the finish. Just as we neared the 3 mile mark, we heard the announcer acknowledge the first couple to finish. We were about :30 or so back. We rounded the corner into Tempe Beach Park holding hands and crossed the line in 21:57 Chaser Time, Jamie's actual split. It was great and a huge PR for Jamie. She finished 2nd in her AG and 13th woman overall and I also finished 13 overall male and 2nd in my AG! Even if I had kept on racing at mile 2.6, I never would have caught first, he went low 17's and I was on track for about 17:40. It was worth it to be able to finish with my Valentine. :)

They had a huge beer garden set up and a band playing, so we used all 4 of our free beer tickets and hung around with friends. :)