Like last year, I made it early and fresh. I got into my wave on time though a bit late so I was at the back going through the line more than 3 minutes after the first runners in the wave and 5 minutes after the “elite” runners!

I felt very strong for the whole race passing a lot of runners along the way. Though, starting 5 minutes behind the fastest runners means that I did not see that many people running at my pace except for the last mile. That last mile ended up being the hardest and I had to reach deep into my reserves to stay on pace.

At the end, I finished 70th in 1:33:43. That is 5 minutes faster than last year.

Based on my race results this year so far, I decided to give another shot at qualifying for Boston and registered to run the Sacramento marathon for the third year in a row. But first, there is the San Jose half marathon in October with the 90 minute mark in sight. We shall see.