It was perfect weather as predicted - cool, sunny, not humid, just a bit of wind in a few parts of the course. We arrived in Hartford, while it was still dark around 6:15. Bib and chip pickup was no-hassle as promised. About 45 minutes before the start, I had a few pretzels, sports beans and HEED electrolyte drink. I stretched and warmed up a tiny bit - quarter mile or so. I was able to start pretty close to the start line. I was a bit nervous being so tightly crowded in, but it turned out ok, and the crowd spread out enough for comfort pretty quickly. The horn went off on time at 8:00. I started out faster than I intended, and it took 2 miles (12:21) to realize it, as I didn't see any 1 mile mark. (I didn't see any marks for miles 3 or 4 either.) They may have been there, and I could have missed them due to running into the bright sun low on the horizon. Anyway, I did slow down to try to meet my overall target pace of 6:29. I was in good shape, until mile 19, where I started falling apart. My quads were cramping up, and my calf muscles would get these painful twinges that felt like they were threatening to lock up completely - which they didn't fortunately. I was able to change my stride enough so that I could continue. But it was enough to really limit my pace. I was able to pass a couple of people in these last miles, but a couple runners also passed me. It can be quite disheartening when someone passes you late in the race, and there's nothing you can do to keep them from opening a wider and wider gap. But I kept telling myself, although I couldn't get 2:50, I could stay under 3:00. The last runner to pass me was the 5th woman overall and 1st woman master - in the last mile or so. She had a good finish, and I couldn't quite catch her, but it was good to have somebody close by to chase. It probably kept me under 2:53. I never did match paces with anyone for long stretches in this race, which is unusual for me. There were (almost) always other runners in sight, so there was someone to chase. I never did look back to see who was chasing me. The spectator support was good - lots of folks along the roads shouting encouragement. They had water and gatorade every mile starting just after the 2 mile mark, and I alternated between water and gatorade at about every other water station. At 1 hour, I took a Lemon Sublime Gu, and at 2 hours, I took a Honey Stinger. I think I was well nourished and well hydrated, and my late mile problems stemmed from my early fast pace. Maybe with better pacing execution in the beginning, I could have made 2:50, but maybe I'm not quite in 2:50 shape - but close... M1 - M2: 12:20 (6:10 pace) M3 - M5: 19:50 (6:37 pace) M6 - 6:50 M7 - 6:26 M8 - 6:23 M9 - 6:37 M10 - 6:25 M11 - 6:25 M12 - 6:22 M13 - 6:21 M14 - 6:33 M15 - 6:36 M16 - 6:32 M17 - 6:34 M18 - 6:21 M19 - 6:41 M20 - 6:50 M21 - 6:39 M22 - 6:40 M23 - 6:55 M24 - 7:00 M25 - 7:05 M26 - 7:02 (M26.2) - 1:27