3+ miles @ ~10:50 min/mi

The Half Beast is back! I arrive early at Philbin's Fitness Center and snag MCRRC bib #333 for another year. Then I visit with Pete (railroad buff and fast runner), Stephanie (who rode back from the JFK 50 with me), Gayatri (whom I tell about my Daughter's studies of Hindi), and others awaiting today's club race. Brian Kim, non-organizer of yesterday's non-official marathon fun-run, awards me a leftover 2004 Marathon in the Parks medal along with leftover commemorative shirts. Christina arrives and we take photos, then line up together at the starting line. The rain has paused but it's still warm (50ish) and quite humid. As usual we set off at too fast a pace and do the first mile in 10:04. Then reality sets in. I snap photos of race leader Pete as he zips by during out-and-back segments of the course. Wayne gets to hear me greet him with the shout "Sandbagger!" as he blasts ahead. Chris finishes strongly a little ahead of me, and as we eat and drink she explains some of the arcane exercise machinery at the sports club.

(correlates: 2007-12-01 - MCRRC Frozen Slopes 6k XC, 2007-09-02 - AT Out-and-Back, VeryGoodDay, ...)