Race morning came around and it was chilly out, but we knew it’d be a great day. My friend, Scott, wanted to hit right around 4 hours. That meant we needed to run around a 9:15 per mile or better. It was a hilly course, so we knew it wouldn’t be the fastest course. Scott had Boston Qualified on this course a few years back, so if the heat needed to be turned on, we could do that. It wasn’t until around mile 21 that we took off our under layers (picture to the right) as it was pretty chilly for the majority of the morning. But, it was a fantastic day to run! There was an excellent “aid station” at the mile 7 hill (Noelton Hill) that offered FireBall Whiskey shots. We participated. And then around mile 23 another “aid station” that had Pop-Tarts and Michelob Ultra. Scott had Pop-Tarts and Michelob, I just had Michelob. And then we continued. We were looking good at that point to hit hit just before 4:00.
**NOTE: Those were not official aid stations by the race director and organization. Those aid stations were kind people just having fun, offering goodies to runners.**

We hit the final hill, then it was just a few winding turns through downtown Knoxville and part of the UT Knoxville campus. Then before we knew it, we were in Neyland Stadium crossing the 50 yard line for the finish! 3:58:20! Boom. Surpassed the goal.