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.

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.

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 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.
Sorry Im behind on my blog reading. You are really tearing it up Ray. That is awesome! It also sounds lke you are on track for your 30K Thanks for being an inspiration!