After 13-miles, we were on pace and he was comfortable with slight walking breaks up hills. Projected finish times kept dropping as we went, with good speed down hills or on flats. He kept his tendency to chatter in check and used speed play and good breathing to reduce cramping. He felt very loose in the last few miles as I kept pulling him along to meet the 5:30 clock-time goal.

I think he also got some inspiration from a surprise I gave him before the race. I prepared matching photos/signs for each to wear on our backs :

John : "I'm pacing my father Tom McKiernan to BSIM's first-ever over-80 finish."
Tom : "I'm pacing my son John McKiernan to his first-ever over-50 finish."

As we ran side-by-side, we got lots of compliments and support along the course, at the finish area and after.

I had three goals :

1. (minimum) 3:56 or better
2. (primary) 3:50 or better
3. Get to start line on time

The latter is a long story, and I failed. My wife dropped me off near the staging area 6 minutes before start time, so I started without any warm-up except a 1/2 mile jog to get there, and after I used the "facilities" I started at least 5-minutes after the start.

There wasn't any chip timing, so my official time was 3:54:30 , but given my late start, I think I met both goals. Lessons leaned : avoid late shopping at the outlets the night before, and stay at a hotel closer to the race (not 40 miles away to save nothing in the long run) .

Later in the day, I heard from my father (Tom McK) ran a 5:48 LA Marathon, good for third in the 80+ male group. Still later, my right ankle started to show signs of swelling and stiffness that are still lingering. I'm not sure where that came from.