@McNs So sorry about your dog.
So Race Report: Today I "Ran the Bluegrass".....or should I say, the Bluegrass ran me...into the ground. I picked this race as a pre-Boston "rolling hill" training run with the plan to do 2 mile warm up and 10-11 at Marathon Pace (in the 9 mpm range). The fact that they sell a shirt that simply says "Hilly, Hilly" (which, if meant, is a cute take on Bud Light), should have tipped me off. Even though I have specifically tried to do some hill training, I am clearly just not meant for the Horrendously Hilly or even Relentlessly Rolling. I felt like quitting by about mile 4, but did not. I felt like walking up every hill, but did not. The one hill that everyone said was killer (a compound hill, around a corner, so Surprise!, more hill awaits!) was, IMO, not as bad as the constant up and down of the rollers. There were occasional sprinkles and the wind in spots was not appreciated.
I finished in 2:00:10, and managed not to run any one mile slower than 9:30, so that's good. My legs are trashed (Hip Flexor and possibly right ITBand which had been whispering this past week or two), so no running til Boston. I got the dreaded 4th place in my AG.
So after all this, I have to say that the course is beautiful---closed country lanes through horse country. The race is well organized, the post-race food (chocolate milk, an awesome donut, bananas, assorted snacks, water, beer, goetta burger) was good, they arranged some neat tours and other activities. The medal is great--last year's Triple Crown Winner, Justify. I would definitely recommend it.