Eugene Marathon

Official time:  3:53:56

Great race, good weather, enough variety in the course to keep it interesting, awesome spectator support, well-organized overall and the parts of the course along the river were beautiful.

I had forgotten my watch at home so I decided to run as I feel.  This translated into classic Cherl: too fast to start and a slow death after mile 22.  I suspected I might be in trouble when the 3:35 pacer came up alongside me at mile 11 (this is way too fast for me to maintain).  I stayed with them until a small hill at mile 16, passing the halfway point around 1:42 (faster than my HM times).  I started to really fall off track around mile 22-23 and basically shuffled my way to the finish.  Running up from the bike path, along Agate and into Hayward Field was incredible.  Great way to finish a marathon!

The Good:  My official finish time was 3:53:56.  That's an ELEVEN minute PR for me.  I'll be over the moon for days!

The Bad:  I ran the first half in about 1:42 and the second half in 2:10.  Oops.  That's ugly.