I more than survived Big Sur!

My running club partner and I ran an incredible race. I want to thank her first. I couldn't have ran as fast as I did without her. We made the 5 hr cut off at 22 miles in 4 hrs and 30min! Having a cutoff is very stressful, but at the same time it made us run a little bit faster when we could. Yes, Big Sur had a lot of hills, but there were a few flat areas and downhills to help us make up the pace. My race day plan was not to fall behind 13min, but stay around 13 or little under. We were at more than 13 at only 2 splits, but we were under 12:30 most of the race. I think our splits were pretty consistent overall and that helped me to finish strong! I love it when I finish strong! According to the race directors, you usually add 20min to you marathon time, that would have put me at 5:32 - 5:36 there abouts. I finished at 5:17:17! I was 5 minutes shy of a PR, which is pretty significant. Yes, after 22 miles, I was crazy enough and had enough energy to try to PR. I'll have to check my splts, but at mile 24, I was running at least my 10K pace if not faster. Then at mile 25, there was a pretty significant hill for about 1/2mile. According to their map it was a 0 - 100 elevation gain. I ran most of it, but near the crest I had to walk. I was about to kill over, trying to sprint up the hill. I walked to the crest and then I sped to the finish. The last mile is longest mile and the last .2 is even longer. Eventually, I saw the finish banner/balloon and I sprinted in!