http://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-11080?entryID=11569771&lc=en

2:45:15. I don't really care about the time so much as the fact that I never stopped running.

Apparently, "half run, half walk" is a thing people do in half-marathons. That was what most of the people around me were doing. Unfortunately, if all you're doing is running at an uncannily steady pace (only 0:07 difference in the mile pace between the first half and the second!), that means that you're passing those people a LOT. One guy seemed to be switching between running and walking every 30 seconds toward the end, and it started to feel like he was just running to catch up to me, then walking to catch his breath, then running to catch up to me. But every time he'd pass me, he'd run until he was DIRECTLY in front of me, then stop walking. It was amazingly irritating. Some other people were much more polite when we were similarly situated, and I appreciated that a lot.

I wore an awesome hat, which helped way more than I expected. It kept my head warm, but it also generated at least 9 "I love your hat" type comments, and it's silly, but those comments did way more to inspire me than all of the "good job!" comments that all the people along the way - volunteers, police officers controlling traffic, residents of neighborhoods we ran past/through, and people who just happened to be out for a jog or bike in the opposite direction - were handing out.

I felt wonderful for 11 miles. Mile 12 was rough, but mile 13 was just miserable. The backs of my knees started hurting, which I've never experienced before. The only thing keeping me running was the fact that I knew if I stopped running, I wouldn't be able to start again, and it was really important to me to run the whole way. That actually turned out to be a blessing, because as  soon as I crossed the finish line I started walking, and learned two things: 1) I was right that once I stopped running, I wasn't going to be able to start again, and 2) walking actually hurt a lot more than running at that point. My top speed for the walk back to the school bus that shuttled us to the parking lot was probably about 1.5mph.