Race Report--Shamrock Run in Portland!

This is my 3rd year running the Shamrock Run in Portland. The first year I was marathon training and ran the 15K. The next year I was injured so I had to skip it and last year I ran the 8K with my friend Zoe. This year I ran the 8K again with my friend Kelsey. I hope to run the 15K again one year because it is really challenging and the downpour that occurs year after year on the race morning makes for another interesting twist to the race. This year we were luckier than usual--it didn't start raining until about mile 3! But it was very cold and there was a delay in the start time due to a train passing that made us wait around before starting in the cold. Once we got going I warmed up and we actually had a really good pace! We weren't expecting to do great because both of our throats have been bothering us this weekend, but we kept up a pace between 8:30 and 9 minute miles. Kelsey is a great running partner for me because she pushes me to go just a little bit faster, has great form and likes to partake in the freebies given away at the end of races! Today's loot included clam chower, free appetizer coupons for Stanford's, pop chips and Coconut Water.

before the race! Kelsey met me at my apartment and we took MAX down to the race which started on the waterfront

at the finish line!

We finished in about 43 minutes! A great time for us for an 8K. I couldn't have done it without her next to me since I was trying to match her pace. The funny thing is that she says the same thing about me, but I for sure feel that she keeps me going faster. We are still waiting to see our official time on the web site but we both clocked it using Nike Plus and it was right at 43 minutes. I look forward to doing the Shamrock run every year!

Update: I checked my chip time and it was in fact exactly 43 minutes! That is an overall pace of 8:39, a record for me! I have never paced that well before. Here is the link to my results:
http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php#racetop