Is this cheating? I'm not sure. I am running through Cleveland's Cultural Gardens, and I'm running the tangents. This isn't easy, since there is automobile traffic coming and going both ways. But it seems to be the only way of catching up to Larry Logan. I manage to do this around mile 7.5. I'd been stalking him from behind since very early in the race.
Larry had beaten me by about a mile at the track 1500 last Sunday. He's from Michigan, and we've run many of the same races in the past, but we only just met last Sunday. He's super-fast, but perhaps the half-marathon distance will get to him. I can only hope. We exchange hellos and then I pull ahead. This is great, I think. Maybe now I'll win the age group for this here Pan American Masters Games Half-Marathon.
It's not so great when he zooms by me around mile 9. Oh well, I think. Second won't be so bad. I'm not sure where third-place guy is, but I'm nevertheless running well, so I don't think he's ahead of me. I'm keeping a steady pace, but I can't seem to pick it up any faster, nor can I get any closer to Larry. He's way ahead, but he's not pulling away any further.
But then I see him walking. I catch up a bit, but then he starts running again and I realize I only made up a bit of ground. This situation repeats several times, until I manage to catch and pass him once again with a mile to go. I finish in 1:50:49, my best Half in several years. Better than that is the gold medal. It's pretty darn cool.
Great to see several friends at the finish, including Debra Horn, Debbie Makowski, and Chadwick Sunday, who generously took some photos and sent them to me. On the whole, the Pan American Masters Games was a blast, and I'm happy I did it.
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