What'd you think of the course? I did it too, and despite missing my goal by a minute and a half, I was satisfied. Second half was pretty brutal; way more hills than I remember from last year.

one of the best reports ever!

and... how was the weather? What was your goal? What was your finish time?

I didn't do it this year, but it's one of my favorite 1/2 marathons.

dude that was fast

I can tell you the weather was great. About 48-52 for the balance of the race. No issue with slow marathon walkers like I've experienced in the past, and the 1:30 pacer ran through the halfway point at 45:02 (though he probably should've been faster, as the first half of the course is a lot easier than the second). Great aid/support throughout, everything was marked clearly.

To steal the subject and talk about my own race, I definitely had a goal in mind (1:30), and definitely did not hit it (somewhere from 1:31:30-40, don't remember my official chip time). The half mile uphill on Galer (at around mile 7.5, for those unaware of it) killed me, and I lost more than a minute from 7.5 to 8.5. Lost about another minute and half from 8.5 to 10.5, until I said HTFU and killed the last 2.6 (which were mostly downhill anyways, I guess).

I'm slightly disappointed, as I was confident in my goal, but I clearly didn't taper well enough (I have fragile legs and was stiff from the first stride), and I haven't slept well in a month (studying for law exams and fear of failing them have alternatively given me 4 hour nights of sleep 5 at least 5 days a week). Thankfully, I've got a bigger picture, and this is just the first step in 7 month plan culminating in June. All-in-all, a positive result that'll keep me motivated for the future!

Okay, okay, I'll give some details too. The weather was in fact perfect. This was my second time on the course (previous time 6 years ago) and I was able to take advantage of living near the course to train on the parts that gave the other guy trouble. My goal was 1:26:XX, which I hoped would get me in the top 50 overall. I ran 1:26:58 (1:27:00 official) but it was only good enough for 73rd amongst the men and I think 83rd overall. I would have needed to run 1:24:XX to make the top 50... maybe everyone else was having a good day too? There sure were some great looking women who run just a little faster than I do...

And I beat my time from 6 years ago by over two minutes. That was great.

They were blaring some great rock music at about 10.5 miles. That was a great pick-me-up.

I did learn that I should get new racing flats. My strides felt "dead" instead of "springy". And my calves are pretty tight because of it. I have no idea how my ice hockey game is going to turn out tonight.

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Steve

A 1:12 won last year, and I think a ton of people swooped in to try take the win. There were a lot of 1:11-1:13s this year.

That was an amazing half marathon course! I am sure I have never done so many hills in a half. Of course what goes up also goes down so there were opportunities for free speed.

I didn't look into the course before I ran it because I am just visiting and figured it would be more fun to see Seattle during the race but each time I hit one of those short but steep hills I just laughed to myself and thought, man am I glad I am not doing the marathon when those hills would have hurt even more!

I respect the heck out of that course, now I wanna come back fit enough to race it.