Like the scores of other runners, I didn't have an "excellent" race either. First of all, MARTA messed up our train and they had us get off at the Lindburgh station and after 5 minutes of waiting they ended up making us re-board the same train and dropping a bunch of us runners at the Buckhead station instead of Lenox, so I was about a 1/4 mile away from the start line (1/4 mile towards the finish, not behind the line). So I had to hike all the way back to reach my spot. The good thing was I saw the elite runners come by and I saw Khalid ZOOM by us when I was walking towards my number area in the back of the pack!! My finish time exactly matched my very first (and the slowest) 10k... 69 minutes. Which is 12 minutes off of my PR pace. The heat was not a problem but the dripping humidity sure was. I walked through the water stops, jogged up the two smaller hills, walked up the Cardiac hill and kept an even pace otherwise. I sped up a bit after the left turn on 10th but that was about all I could manage. Looking back at the experience, I was sad that I did not run the race well but on the other hand, I was certainly GLAD that I was not one of the many heat casualties that I saw on TV later. I think it is better to be safe and run a slow(er) race than to push too much and get injured. -- Richie BAKSHI