Drove downtown and parked in my usual spot on the street over from the 1st church. I sat there debating on to wear my garmin or just go run and decided to just run . The temps outside were really good for running. I brought my rain suit along thinking I would wear it to stay warm till it was go time, then before i left the car i really didn't want to deal with bag check so i downed my 5 hr energy grabbed my gu and headed over to the church and left everything else. Big Slim Jim was out waiting in front of the church so we made our way in and took advantage of the no waiting restrooms and chilled out in the lounge. Then Danny and Jerry showed up and we chilled a bit more before Jerry and i made a quick little mile shake out warm-up. then we headed over to the line and i started getting a little worried when the National Anthem started and we were not even close to getting in the gate. I saw a good place to jump the fence and that is what i did. Then made my way up to the line where i saw Jake and many other familiar running friends i hadn't seen in some time. Eventually Jerry made it up too. they announced the past 1/2 winner who was a dead coyote and Jerry made a loud reply to it "that time wasn't gonna win this yr" it really put a smile on all the people who heard it. I teased Jerry with a short pull down that got his attention. Then we toed the line and I was kinda in between and behind Jake and Jerry. Jerry took out quick and took a pack of fellas with him that were about 3-5 sec ahead of me Jake and Scotty. We hit the first mile at 5:25 and i knew i wasn't gonna be hitting that pace the whole way. I asked Jake where his brother was when we got to the spot where he always tells the story of his brother going out with him the past yr in.. After that going up the hill Scotty took off and Jake followed too I was following a the dead coyote dude and triathlete dude, two guys i have never beat in a head to head match up. At one point Craig pulled up and hollered at me to not let the dead coyote dude beat me, and i gave him a grin and a thumbs up, About mile 5 I closed in on them on a down hill when shortly after i stepped on a sticker that was sticky side up.... it attached to my shoe and was 1/2 way on my shoe and was really bothering me.. I didn't want to stop and pull it off so i just ran with it. I did make 1 good effort to take it off by scooting my foot across the road..failed effort that is. I made my way down to the relay exchange where I handed off to Eric and continued on with my half. Just before I crossed the 10k mat i heard Eric holler "I'm right behind you buddy". We continued up the course and made our way to Gorilla Hill and I made a move on a dude that looked maybe college age. I didn't recognise him, we made it to the top and he surged on me and we were seconds apart till we made the 1/2 / full separation at which point i was well ahead of the next person behind me and i couldn't see anyone ahead of me. This really got my curiosity going as to where the other 1/2 marathoners were. It seemed as if the people cheering me were surprised to see me and i would listen for them to see how far back they cheered for the next person...which i never heard them. I got a slight breeze in my face coming down Classen blv but it was more of a refreshing breeze than a hinderance. I was feeling pretty good going down the home stretch and made a few crowd gestures to get them going. When i got down to the finish I saw them interviewing Jerry and he gave me a big high 5 as I ran by. When i saw the clock i was surprised at the time I really didn't think I would have that fast of turn over that quickly after Boston. I took a few pics with Jerry and Chris Barnes and realized I was 3rd overall which was a shock to me. I felt really good though the race and started to tighten up in my left glute afterwards.. I won out the Masters but didn't get the master awards i guess because i won 3rd overall. Was really proud of all my training buddies. Jake won 2nd yr in a row, Daniel was behind Jake in his marathon debut, Big Slim Jim got a BQ, We won the relay 1st place...but Jake beat us by 1 min., Jerry now gone but still friend won the 1/2 , We killed all the coyotes... | 
