Windward Half 2024: eight minutes faster on the humid side

The second year on the pretty half, and the numbers moved. For me, 1:43:49 at 7:56 a mile, eight and a half minutes faster than the year before. Michelle ran 2:14:46, five minutes faster than hers. The course didn't get any shorter and the humidity on the windward side didn't get any lower, so the only thing that changed was a year of long runs, which usually turns out to be the thing that moves the number.

Fourth is the placing that teaches you the most about the people who beat you, because there are exactly three of them and they're all on the same sheet. Both of us were fourth in our age groups this year, twentieth and seventy-first overall.