First, I need to spend at least a little time on a new Decker Song! (yes, really... it is tradition now)
Air horn blares, are you list'ning?
Decker Lane, wind is whistling
The weather's all right
There's no rain in sight
Running in the Decker Half again
Gone ahead.. are the fast ones
In the back.. are the last ones
I'm owning these hills
With mad racing skillz
Running in the Decker Half again
On the road a JFR from last year
Brings to mind a diff'rent silly song
It's the seventh time that I've run past here
Still, I'm back for more (and that's just wrong!)
Later on.. when it's dire
And my quads.. are on fire
The superfans will
Help me up that hill
Running in the Decker Half again
I can hear Gabe yelling at me, "Go Man!"
People prob'ly hear him back in town
Josh is also yelling at me, "Yo Man!"
The race is better with these guys around!
From my nose.. snot is pouring
But this song's.. getting boring
So I'll end it here
And then disappear
Running in the Decker Half again
...and when it's all done,
I'll swear I had fun
Running in the Decker Half again (bum, bum!)
Well that took up most of the brain cycles I dedicated to this task. Instead of a play-by-play, I'll just say that I had a great race. I was helped on the course by several people. In particular...
Gabe and Josh! Having these guys as a cheering section was great. They were there on the corner at mile 4, and again just past mile 10 at the top of Quadzilla, with a big bucket of morale boost to throw at people. I had no idea that Gabe owned a bullhorn, but I suppose that should have been obvious.
I have to also thank Marc B. for leveling up out of our age group into the Overall standings. Because of him, I got to move up too, and I'm one gift certificate richer. I'm almost sorry for suggesting that I might pull a Nancy Kerrigan on him before the race. But now that I know he doesn't actually have kneecaps (that's what he told me!) I am going to have to get more creative.
...and the other dude in my age group who beat me - Ken Y. We don't know each other well (or really at all), but he was like a a carrot on a stick, just hanging out in front of me the entire race. I was closing in on him at the end, but once he realized that I was back there, the gap between us stopped shrinking.
...and Mother Nature. She helped too. It was decidedly un-Decker weather. Nice and cool, but not cold. The DLWT (Decker Lane Wind Tunnel) was still active, but it was more of a stiff breeze... nothing registering on the Fujita scale like usual.
When all was said and run, I came home with a shiny new 2-minute 23-second 1/2 Marathon PR: 1:25:00. Good enough for 14th place overall, and (in case you weren't already doing the math) 2nd in my age group! That is probably the best part, because it means I got another Decker pint glass. Now I have a matching pair. And I took a Christmas-y picture that makes them difficult to see!
Why is that so exciting? It means I no longer have to drink alone. Also, when I do drink alone (cuz let's face it, I'm gonna keep drinking with or without you people), I can have twice as much!
All right. It's all over except for the geekometer splits:
6:28, 6:53, 6:38, 6:35, 6:30, 6:16, 6:23,
6:08, 6:28, 6:33, 6:20, 6:26, 6:23, 0:59*
* Adjusted for post-race-watch-stoppage-delay