Nice! I love the tactics of running races. The part about the crowd giving you a pity cheer leaves me shaking my head. How is it that people have been running competitively for hundreds of years and the general public is ignorant of basic tactics? Running is a wonderful lifetime sport and even if you don't pursue it competitively I think of it as "staying out of the hospital." I started running to train for cross-country skiing, and I was always slow. About 10 years ago, I had the opportunity to hike the Inca trail with a pair of Olympic athletes. The full-time athlete mindset is interesting to be around, and what they're able to achieve is astonishing. The best part, for them, is that they burn so many calories they basically have to eat nonstop all day :)