Squirrely Six

Ran the Squirrely Six this morning. I was a lot warmer than I expected to be, with temperatures soaring into the low 40s :-). Seriously, I peeled off my jacket before the race, and probably could have been comfortable in a thinner shirt. At lease one guy ran it in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.
I ran the first mile fast because I had fresh shoes waiting for me at the end of a very wet and muddy section at the start of the race. Probably 20-30 people passed me while I was changing my shoes, but I didn't think that was of much consequence. I caught a few of those people, but for the most part ended up running the race with the same 5 people around me. The hills were harder than I thought they would be, but my strategy of taking easy on the hills and putting out a big effort at the top really seemed to work.
When I reached the top and got onto the flat along Beaver Creek Road, I could just see the last of the five I had been with through the race. I caught them all along the flat, and also passed one woman who had passed me on the uphill.
I felt great about the downhill section, and took the "lead" among the five.
The bottom stretch - final mile - was tough. I was running, but not fast. I think I psyched myself out. I took an inventory of how I was feeling, and was fine. My breathing was steady, my legs felt really good, and so I pushed it a bit. Then we hit the last muddy/wet section at the end and I just lost heart. All those little climbs and the cold/heavy feet. Before I knew it, the end was, well, there. You couldn't see it from far off. Just came around a corner and that was it. Too bad. The "sprint" at the end was too short to catch anyone. I feel like I left something on the course because of that last little bit.
The last time I saw before crossing the line was 56:56. I'll have to look up my official finish time.
I stuck around and saw Heidi (my office mate at work) and Erica (her friend who used to work with me at Emma Willard), who were dressed up as Candy Corn and Indian Candy. Then a big surprise came around the corner - the father of a former student of mine who was doing the full half marathon. I took off to run with him, and looked back over my shoulder to see Joe's wife Elizabeth arrive. I gave her a shout, then ran off with Gary. He ran 12 miles up to Thatcher park before the race. Wild. He wanted to get 25 miles in for the day. He runs 40 mile endurance races.
Liz, Heidi, Erica and I hung around a bit. Got warm (actually, I got a lot colder), ate some food then hung to see Joefinish. He came in with a group of three and looked strong and steady at the finish.
So it was cold, wet and I'll probably be sick for a week now, but I had fun. I don't know if I'll be doing any of these "first night" runs. I'm actually looking forward to getting on the eliptical trainer and treadmill indoors where it's warm.