It was a pretty small race with about 100 runners between the two distances (mostly in the 12K). As we were getting ready to start the race, we were notified that the 12K course was going to be long - instead of 7.44 miles it would be 7.6 miles. At first I didn't get why the course was almost .2 mile long when it is out and back.
As the race started, it was a little tight at first. The first .1 mile or so was on tight a gravel trail heading into the Silver Comet. I felt it was necessary to go a little faster than I had planned the first half mile until things got thinned out a bit. After that, I brought my pace back to where I was aiming for then gradually increased my pace with each mile.
When I got to 3.7 I realized why we didn't turn around there - we were in the beginning of a historic tunnel on the trail. Obviously a tunnel is a dangerous place to have a race turn around, plus it was really cool to run through it so I was fine with an extra .2 mile!
After the turn around I kicked it up. I was going to be going down a slight downhill the rest of the way so it was time to let loose. I accomplished all of my goals: beat my goal time, PRed, and negative splits. As I waited with friends for Momma K to finish they posted the updated results....I WAS 2ND IN MY AGE GROUP! Seriously!