Race day greeted us with cold/cool temperatures. The car said 34. Perfect temperature for a marathon. The course had a mixture of roads, bike trails, boardwalk, and crushed limestone. The gun went off and a 2 guys started like a rocket. One of the guys was the defending champion from last year. After the first 3 miles I was able to get with those 2 guys. I stayed with them for the first 12 miles. A fell back a little when we went through some nice Wisconsin hills and had a strong headwind. 
For miles 13-18 I struggled. My pace was extremly slow. I made the turn around at 18 and noticed the 4th place runner was gaining ground on me. Boy did that put the fire in my legs. I said "come-on snap out of it." I was able to get my pace down, however the guy still caught me at around mile 21. So I was in 4th pace now. I kept digging with hopes of trying to catch him later. At mile 23 the guy who was 2nd at the half-way point was in clear sight. I was focused on him and passed him. Now I was in 3rd place. I kept on hammering away, 2nd place was about 400 meters ahead. At around 25.5 miles the half marathoners join the marathon runners this caused congestion, and harder to see the 2nd place runner. I told myself "ok less then 5 mins." I kicked it in high gear. I got up to the 2nd place runner. He turned to me and said "oh crap," from then on I thought it would be a sprint to the finish. He did hold with me until 26 mile marker, but then I was able to pull away. My race went from great to total disaster to good. I finished in 2:47.23, and a 2nd place finish.
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