I don't have any huge race report like others on the blog. But, I do want to say I'm happy with how the race went and motivates me to want to improve even more. We were there early since Marlin was starting at 7am. I felt like a slacker only doing the half. Time went by pretty quickly and before I knew it the half marathon was starting. I was alittle bit further back in the pack than I'd wanted to be when it started. I knew I could just do what I could do - I was alittle over half way back. In the first mile we narrowed down onto a path which was a pain. You couldn't get around anyone because there were so many people. I knew I was losing time. Once we could spread out I just tried to focus and keep going. I wanted to be careful with picking it up to fast because I knew I'd pay for it later on. But, I was happy that I was under a 8.5 min mile. I felt pretty good the first few miles and thought 'maybe I can maintain this....'.
Around mile 5 as I was checking my (Garmin) watch a guy I'd just passed asked what our pace was. We were at 8:22. I ran with him for awhile and we talked about what we were hoping to finish at. He picked up his pace and left. I sure didn't expect to see him again. Happy to report I saw him around mile 12 and said 'hello' - with a grin. I could tell he was stuggling and he asked me how much further we had. I knew I needed to keep picking it up now that we were getting towards the end. I don't have what I ran each mile like Marlin does. I'm not very good at doing that. I just watched my time and my goal was to stay under an 8.5 min mile and not go beyond that pace. I did get caught up at two of the aid stations making sure I got a good drink. That's one thing I'll work on. I know I lost time. Between the path in the beginning and the aid stations I was happy with my time. Throughout the race I felt pretty good and either maintained or continued to pick it up more as time went on.
The course did have some hills, but I had a good time running this race. I am convinced now putting in the miles and training does pay off. I loved seeing more people behind me that in front of me. I loved seeing everyone out there giving it all they had. Here's the number that I do have.
Finishing time: 1:51:08
Overall: 260th out of 1412 runners
Age group (50 - 54): 10th out of 56 | 