The alarm goes off at 8:00 am on New Year's Day and the first thing I notice is the pat,pat,pat of rain on the roof. Great, the 3rd race I have run and the 3rd race that it has rained, it's the small steady rain drops, that you just know will last all day. I tell the wife and girls to stay home and not bother with the bad weather, I pack a bad with about 27 different outfits, since I have no idea what to expect by the time I get to the race. I've been fighting a cold for the last few days so their is a little voice in my head, telling me to bad the whole thing, but that really wasn't a serious consideration. A nice bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and I am on the road by 9:30, which leaves me plenty of time to get to the race for the 11:00 start. The drive was (thankfully) uneventful, it seemed like the whole world was sleeping in and the directions were simple and straight forward.

I get to the location, pick up my packet and start to prepare. My right ankle is really sore today, I had tweaked it about 2 weeks ago but it had been feeling fine for the last week, of course it decides to flare up today. I pee twice before they call the runners to the start (what is it about race day that makes my bladder decide to go into overdrive???). I take my spot at the back of the pack, looks to be about 100 runners, a good turnout considering it's new years day and really bad weather. They take a picture (for the local paper) of the start line, but I am so far back I don't even bother waving. The gun goes and we are off, the very first section is a STEEP downhill sections, the first thing that goes through my head is "man, I hope we don't have to run back up this hill" and is quickly followed by "man, I really have no idea how to set a good pace on a downhill section". So, it's 30 seconds into the race and I am already mentally beating myself up, not smart. The road is really wet, but not too slippery, I try to avoid puddles but otherwise the traction is very good. The rain continues to fall for the first mile and eventually I decide that "no glasses" is a better option that "rain coated glasses, I can't see out of", so the glasses come off and of course, it immediately stops raining:(. I never saw a map or description of the route, so I don't know if it's a loop or an out and back, I can tell you that it was very hilly, but I didn't really mind that since most of my training runs are in hilly areas. Once we hit about 2 1/2 miles, I'm sure it's a loop, so with that off my mind, it's a little easier to settle in and just concentrate on my pace. Nothing much of interest from their, their wasn't really anyone pushing me from behind and their was one lady in front of me, I pushed up on her a few time but she was running well and I was happy to stay close. Down to the final push, I was really trying to leg it out and pass the girl in front of me, but at about 100 yards, I knew I just didn't have it, but I look at the clock and (through my hazy vision) it looked like it said 38:xx, I think I had to pick up my jaw before crossing the line. I can't believe that I just ran 4 miles at a sub 10:00 pace, it was only 6 months ago that it took me 15 minutes just to run 1 mile. I couldn't be happier with my time, the after party was nice, they had fruit, bagels and water. I didn't win any door prizes (and I was really hopping for one of the "fuel belts" they were giving away) but it was still a fun event and I am glad I participated.

Official time below (results list 114 runners)

97 Levon Knowles 33 38:30 9:38