Date: Oct. 5, 2025 Participant: Natasha Elhaj-Hedinger #20491 Race: 2025 Portland Half Marathon Distance: 13.1 miles

Consistent Improvement with Strategic Pacing Natasha began her race with a steady pace, clocking the first two miles at an average pace of 9:12 min/mile. She then increased her speed, recording impressive splits from miles 3 to 5 with an average pace of 8:24 min/mile before slightly easing off in mile 6. Notably, Natasha's pacing showed considerable consistency, managing to maintain an average pace close to her overall pace of 8:43 min/mile. Throughout the race, Natasha demonstrated significant progress from her previous half marathon, improving her overall time by over 16 minutes. Her placement advanced to 1102nd overall, highlighting her improvement, given the 5623 participants in this year’s event. Continuing to enhance the mid-race pacing, especially maintaining momentum after mile 6, could yield even better results in future races. Overall, the strategic choice to steadily increase speed after initial miles and improve from past performance was effective and commendable.