Lincoln Marathon

Yesterday was my 26^th marathon in my 14^th state. I was the pacer for the 3:55 group at the Lincoln Marathon in Nebraska. It was a really nice day and a really fun course with lots of really friendly and grateful people. My time according to the website was 3:54:19. I was following a very intentional strategy to finish just under 3:55. I felt good about the finishing time and especially all of the people who met their goals in the group that I was leading. I had a group of several dozen sticking with me through the half marathon split off and then it went to around 15 or so through 20 miles and then 8 or so that stuck with me all the way to mile 25 when they felt confident to go ahead and finish strong. Four of the most memorable people I ran with included a first time Boston qualifier, a 1^st time sub 4 hour marathon on her 8^th marathon, a first time marathoner and an older gentleman who finished 30 seconds behind me for his first sub 3:55 finish as well. It was a huge event with, according to what I heard, 11,000 in the half and full altogether. The finish line was on the 50 yard line of the Tom Osborne Stadium on the University of Nebraska Campus in Lincoln.