Germantown Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Challenging race conditions with a steady cold rain from start to finish and a chilly headwind on the second half of the route. Temps. dropped from the low 50's at the start into the mid 40's during the race. It was sunny and a more seasonal 71 degrees yesterday. I had trained for a sub 1:40 half and that was my goal. However, it wasn't going to happen today. I felt sluggish during the first 3 miles and could not get on pace. I got into a groove from miles 4-10, but the wheels started coming off again around mile 9. I was completely spent when I crossed the finish line. I gave the race my best effort, but couldn't pull off my time goal today. By mile 10, the wind and rain had taken its toll on me - I just wanted to finish this event and get back home to a warm shower.

I would have done more long runs on cold, windy, rainy days.

No warm down. I finished, grabbed a couple of bananas, offered congratulations to a few running buddies, then drove home to take a hot shower. I did some stretching and took a nap after my shower before eating lunch.


The weather and limited training in adverse weather.


I have run this half marathon several times in years past. It has always been a well organized and supported event. This year, it was a race in the cold rain and wind. I heard some feedback that the race organizers ran out of post race food well before all of the runners had finished. It was really great to see so many volunteers out working the event in the cold rain and windy conditions. As a Germantown resident, I particularly enjoyed running this event through neighborhoods where I do my training runs.