Eventually, I somehow ended up making it way ahead of her and everyone else.  But then s*** hit the fan when I reached a marker at mile five.  I got confused by the arrows and there was no one around me to follow, so I ended up running the wrong way, praying the whole time that I was running in the right direction.  The praying didn't work and I did make it to the finish line eventually. ...But in the opposite direction. 

Oops.

RunKeeper Saves the Day
Thank goodness though, that I had RunKeeper running (will have to review them soon)!  I actually do a lot of my outdoor runs with RunKeeper because it's such a neat app.  I was afraid that I wouldn't get to submit an official time, but the race officials worked with me.  They also seemed fascinated by my app as I showed them the path that I ran on a map, the calories I burned, and my average pace, among other things. 

With the help of the app, they concluded that I had ran about a quarter mile off course, so half a mile total since I had to run back.  They decided to just multiply my average pace by 6.2 and decide on a time that way.  Unfortunately, that only shaved a measly 56 seconds off my overall time (I ran an extra half mile!), but it did place me second in my age group, about 20 seconds slower than the person who got first place.  I didn't feel like making a case of it though.  It was a fun, lighthearted race, and honestly, I was proud of myself for merely being able to run the entire distance.

Oh, and guess who won first place -- Jenny :)

Post-Race
There were bananas, oranges, bagels, water, cider and coffee for everyone to nosh on.  When the race was over, winners in each age group were announced, medals were passed out, and that was the end of that. 

Final Word
For my first race ever as well as my longest distance ever, that was pretty darn fun, and I would totally do it again!  I'd also recommend it to friends who are just starting to get into running.  For those who run on a regular basis, but don't think that you can run 3-6 miles, I bet you can!  I went into this having never ran over 4 miles before and not thinking that I could run the entire 6.2 miles, to somehow accidentally running nearly 7 miles straight.  Don't underestimate your body's capabilities.

Funny thing, on the way back to the car, Jenny said, "It's okay, Dev, you can say it -- you got first place".  Without missing a beat, I said back with the biggest grin, "Don't worry; I'm already thinking it"

;)