"You go ahead, I'm not going to race it in," Rose said as I began my finishing kick. I could see Western Gateway Park and the finish line of the 2015 Daffodil Run. I had sat on Rose's hip for the duration of the race, as my Garmin had died during the Hotshot Half Marathon the day before. I latched onto her as we passed the first mile split (8:45) and we enjoyed talking about everything from her upcoming Boston Marathon to poison oak remedies.
My legs were weary from the previous day's effort. I ignored the discomfort, shooting for a nice negative split over the out and back course. Makie "Hula Girl" Ohler came back at us, leading the race with young Devon in her pocket. She said afterwards that he tried to back off a few times but she kept him honest, beating him by less than a minute in the end.
Rose and I kept edging the pace up, hitting an 8:15 mile on the home stretch. As we crested the last small hill, she told me to go ahead. I set my sights on a guy who looked like he might be in my age group and reeled him in as I entered the park. About 150 yards from the finish, I hear spectators cheering Rose in as she sprinted to catch me, nipping me at the line by 0.2 seconds. That's the last time I fall for that trick, Rose!
54:20 was a good effort for a rest week with back to back races; I stuck around for the awards because the age group listings had me in third, but they were wrong. I was fourth. Which is fine, I don't need any more medals, just miles ;)
The Gold Country Grand Prix is off to a great start in 2015. I highly recommend you visit the foothills and take in a race this summer.
Rose is pretty sly...
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