Plano Pacer's Turkey Runoff 15K

On Saturday November 26, 2011 I ran in a 15K race at the Plano Pacers Turkey Runoff 5K, 15K and Jr Sprint at Bob Woodruff Park in Plano TX. The race was free to yearly members and only $10 to guests. It was raining when I left to go to Plano and didn't stop until right before 6:00 AM. The temperature was just under 70 degrees for the start of the 15K and 5K which started at together at 8:00 AM. I started about 15 rows from the front and waited for the race to get started. After the first mile I looked at my Garmin to check my time. I had run it in 8:04, which was pretty fast for a first mile in a 15K race. I told myself to slow down. This was a 9.3 mile race, basically three 5K in one, so I needed to reserve some energy for the finish. I actually ran this race earlier in the year in February, so I went back to read what I had written on my blog so I could "study" the course. Because of that bit of research, I already knew there were a few small hills, and mentally prepared myself for them. My 3 mile time was 25:01 (a 8:25 / mile pace). Around the 6th mile is where the hills were, and so my pace slowed down a bit at that point with a time of 51:11 (a 9:13 / mile pace). A little farther on from the 6th mile marker was the turnaround, just past the 10K marker. There were only 2 water stops on the course, but they were set up in a way that you passed them twice. Great idea, the problem is that the cups of water were very small. I took a few of them all along the way for energy. With only 2 miles to go, I ran as fast as I could. At mile 8, my time was 1:08:20 (8:16 / mile pace) and I ran the same pace for mile 9 with a time of 1:16:36. We had to circle the pond and finish in front of the pavilion, and I finished in the time of 1:19:47 (7:48 / mile pace). They gave out nice trophies to all the award winners including the Jr. Sprint kids. I placed 2nd out of 6 in my new 60 - 64 age division; 32 out of 50 men and 37 out of 77 overall 15K finishers. For the first time ever, I scored above 70 in my age grade with 73.1. To compare, my time on this same course in February was 1:26:01, so this is a new personal record in a 15K race. Like most runners, I run faster when the weather is cooler.  Place     Men      Overall    Chip Time    Pace     Age Grade  2/6      32/50      37/77       1:19:47       8:34        73.1 I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com