Having been there and been part of the race and ran an OTQ. It was the perfect storm. No weather issues, slight head wind, 45 degrees. Rolling in a pack of 30 to 40 guys it felt more like a Sunday long run tempo with buddies than a actual race. People were sharing bottles, gels, and water cups, something I have never been a part of or even seen in all my time running.
Also take into account the amount of veterans that were leading this pack for this group, You had Pat Rizzo, love him or hate him the guy did a great job pacing. Eric Loeffler the calm of the group, Matthew Fecht, this guy is the human metronome kept us steady and non aggressive
You had a large group of us "sub-elites' that all wanted to work together to achieve this goal.
Stop hating because you didn't make it or didn't show up to the race
Haters gonna Hate