Well, the first official race of 2011 has come and gone, and it’s off to a great start!  The weather this year was almost identical to last year for the same race…perfect for a brisk morning race.

I was up by 6:45 AM, did my usual thing and left for the venue with Mrs. Fat Guy, and Mr. Fat Guys mother, also know as the “Cheering Committee”.  We arrived at 8:15 AM, picked up my bib, got changed, and warmed up with a 1k run on part of the race course.

Up the hill at the start.

At approx. 9:10 AM I lined up at the start line, in front to make sure I didn’t have to dodge slower runners.  The start horn went off at exactly 9:15 AM.  The first 300m was on a slight uphill, and snow covered road.  Once passed the right turn at the top, it was asphalt/slush combo.  I made the mistake of starting off too strong, and my pace was somewhat downhill from there until the last little kick at the end.

The last 500m is a decent uphill and it took alot out of me.  I was surprised that no one was around me though at that point.  Rounding the last corner going to the finish line is a slight snow covered downhill and I pushed with whatever I had left.

When I crossed the finish line, I was totally spent, but extremely happy.  Not only did a meet my aggressive goal of 14 mins, I smashed it, finishing in 13:46 which is almost 3 minutes faster than the same race last year.

Crossing the Finish Line

After a little walking around and stretching, and got changed and waited for the posted results to see if I actually won anything. Approx. 30 mins later the results were posted and there it was; I had won my 40-44 Age Group and by a significant margin. 2nd place was almost 3 mins behind me. My time also placed me 24th out of 127 overall!

Here I am with my “Gold” medal.

Here are the Official Results.

Overall: 24 of 127 (19%)
Age Group (40-44): 1 of 4
Official Time: 13:46.0
Avg. Pace: 4:36 min/km (7:23 min/mile)
Race Weight: 208 lbs

Here is all the data from my Garmin FR305:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/70418616

Next on the race agenda: The Hamilton Around the Bay 30k…the oldest road race in North America.  I have quite a few run miles to log in before this race in less than 26 days.