This race is a fun run, and it was fun but had way to many problems to be seriously competivie. But it is a riot to look at all the wild costumes people were running in. Wow. Very creative. The course is very fast.
The problems were a many. But you would expect growing pains as the race went from about 600 last year to about 2,500 this year. They really skimped on buses. Many people had to wait a long time at the start because there were no buses there. Those who did take early buses had to wait two hours at the start, but that was OK, we had fun talking or warming up. The starter began the race when a bus was totally blocking the road 100 yards ahead. Most the mile markers seemed off (one only about 0.8). The course appeared to be short about 2 tenths making it about two minutes or more fast. Perhaps the Garmins had trouble in the canyons. But if so, they all did even those coming in an hour later. The finish bags arrived too late to sort so it took a long time to find bags. And the worst, there were very few buses at the finish, so runners had to walk miles back to their car or wait for hours for buses. (I called my wife to pick us up.) So if you run this race, you need to go at it with just a fun attitude, because it can be fun while you are running because of all the costumes, a great run for the family. It also is a blistering fast course, wow! If you have the downhill speed you can really fly.
The race runs from the Mount Timp trailhead above Sundance and finishes in the Riverwoods.
I went up with my son Kevin who was running his first half. I was worried about the chilly weather at the start and we got there over two hours early, but they had a nice huge warm tent to wait in and look at all the bizarre costumes. After awhile I went out to run up the road. As I was running up, I was confused to see a ton of runners coming down the road in the dark. One of the buses let out runners way up the road for some reason. I guess he missed the turn. The dawn was incredible. I loved the peace away from the crowds climbing up the Alpine Loop road. The light glowed off of Mount Timp. But I was dressed too warm, started to sweat so I returned to the tent and talked with friends and Kevin.
The start was delayed because runners were still arriving because of the lack of buses. After the last bus arrived, the starter didn't give the bus enough time to get out of the way. He fired the gun and away we went. The bus was blocking almost the entire road. Luckly I was in the first group of about 20 runners, so it wasn't a problem.
The first four miles are wicked fast and steep. I think we lost 2,000 feet in only four miles. I forgot to bring my Garmin, so not sure of the mile splits, but if the mile markers can be trusted on the first section they were 6:10, 6:13, 6:20, and 6:44. It was great fun to blast down the road. Before reaching the Provo Canyon highway, my calves started to cramp up, so I slowed a little. I just haven't done enough tempo runs for the past few months, but the steep descent also affected things. I already saw runners stopping because of cramping problems.
Well, the rest of the run just followed the highway and then jumped on the Provo River Parkway at Vivian Park, a route I have run many times. I was surprised that at mile 10, the 1:30 pacers caught up to me. This just didn't seem right. As I got thinking about it, either they were early or the course was going to be short. I hung on and kept them in my sights. They seemed to slow near the finish because they would be arriving more then two minutes too soon.
I pushed as hard as I could and finished in 1:27:59. PR time for a half by over two minutes, but I was still confused, it didn't seem like I went that fast. I watched people finish for the next hour and all the pacers showed up to the finish 2-3 minutes too soon. They were all very confused. I concluded the course was short. Others confirmed it.
I did make a road runner rookie mistake. I didn't tie my shoes tight enough. With the downhill course, my feet slid around and I ended up with huge blisters on the balls of my feet. After I finished, I had wanted to run the course backwards and run Kevin in, but I was in way too much pain after the finish walking on the blisters. I had to treat my feet and then spent a half hour searching the pile for our bags. Kevin showed up at 2:34:34. Well done for his very first half! He got it done. The steep downhill worked his legs pretty hard.
My age group was very competitive this time. I finished in 5th. Many of the best local road runners were there. I recognized several as they passed me. I wished I could keep up but just couldn't.
Despite all the challenges, it was a fun morning, and very nice to get in a fast run.
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