2:55:51!

Weather for the Seattle Marathon was almost perfect- overcast and 50s, light wind. I went into this race with some confidence that I could break 3-but you never know what you'll feel like on race day.

Frank Shorter once said that he knew in the first mile if he was going to have a good race, and I've always believed in that if I've done the work and the right taper.

Back in the 70's when I was running marathons under 2:30, I noticed that in my best races,the fastest 5 mile split fell between 10-15 miles, and that has always been my race plan.

My splits in Seattle:

5 mile: .....................33:00...... 6:36 per mile
10 mile: 1:05:51........ 32:51....... 6:34 per mile
15 mile: 1:38:28....... 32:36...... 6:32 per mile
20 mile: 2:12:06........ 33:38.... 6:44 per mile
25 mile: 2:47:14........ 35:07.... 7:01 per mile

I always anticipate a slowdown between 20-25, and this course included a significant climb right after 20- not unlike Boston's famous Heartbreak Hill. Overall, I held together well the last 5. According to the marathon website unofficial results, I finished 20th- passing 24 runners from halfway to the finish, with 2 passing me.

The race was very well supported- I took small sips of Gatorade, water, or both every 2 miles. I took a GU 5 minutes before the start and approximately every 30 minutes during the race. Might be my imagination, but I felt better a few minutes after every one.

marathon website individual result