The inagural Saltair Half Marathon was timed perfectly - 3 weeks before CIM, which is when I'd be out on that same road doing a 13 mile MP tempo anyways. As usual for runs out there, the weather was slightly uncomfortable at times, but being able to get in this kind of effort in a race setting with some company makes it well worth it.
We started off with a good sized group. Chris Rushing was off the front quick (unaware, unfortunately, that the 5K started 30 minutes later). Fritz moved ahead after a half-mile and had a pretty good lead on the rest of us for the first half of the race. Nate and I wanted to keep all the miles ~5:20 and finish ~1:10. We dropped the rest of the group and slowly reeled Fritz back in, catching him just before the halfway point. During the second half we just tried to work together and kept the miles consistent. Miles 11-12 were a little rough with wind and cold rain, so even though they were a little slower, the effort stayed the same. We were stride for stride until we hit the 13 mile mark, and then it was every man for himself. I ended up winning by about 2-3 seconds. Great run for Nate, and Fritz wasn't far behind in 3rd.
I was very happy my pacing - 35:02 at the halfway turnaround, and 34:59 coming back. Right on the money - I think my official time was 1:10:01. Exactly what I wanted to accomplish today. Strong stimulus but under control.
Mile splits: 5:22, 5:24, 5:15, 5:23, 5:21, 5:20, 5:14, 5:16, 5:19, 5:20, 5:20, 5:26, 5:25, 5:16.
Type A6s were great. I'll go with them for CIM.
Results
Overall I thought this was a really good race. Deep fields for both men and women. Great prizes... I walked away with $183 (love that totally random amount) plus Andrea (who won the 5K) and I also took home all of this...
I guess the race was sponsored by Dr. Pepper, GU, and sunscreen.
More pics...
And here's the elevation profile I sketched up off memory :-)
AM - 20 miles (3 up, 13 race, 4 down)
PM - 4 miles.
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