12:00 PM - perfect weather - around 50°F, a bit windy in spots, but not too bad. The plan was to go out fast, in control, attack the first (somewhat steep) hill, not go to sleep on the second (gradual) up-hill, cruise the long down-hill, then hang on for the final flat. And that's about how it happened. Mile 1 (5:54) - a bunch of runners went out ahead right away. I was in 11th or 12th place at a quarter of a mile, maybe. I felt good going up the first hill, and I was able to pass a few runners. Mile 2 (5:54) - A couple of them passed me back going down the hill. There was a bit of back and forth among a few runners along this flat area. There was a bit of wind - I spent some time in the wind and some time drafting behind another runner. Mile 3 (6:18) - I spent a lot of energy on this more gradual up-hill, and seeing this split, I thought breaking 30 minutes was out the window, but I forgot how fast the fourth mile can be... Mile 4 (5:36) - This was a comfortable mile, just keeping my legs going, letting gravity bring me down the long, gradual hill. It wasn't quite "easy", since I was still breathing hard. Mile 5 (5:45) - I was just trying to hang on at this point. There was a some more back and forth among a few runners. It's fun, but painful, coming in the last mile with your place in question. In the end, I had nothing left for a kick and two runners passed me definitively in the last stretch, coming down Route 7. In trying to maintain my place in the last mile, I had forgotten about the time for the moment. So it was a great surprise seeing 29:27 on the finish line clock! (PR - first time I have run under 30:00 for 5 miles!)