Silver Comet Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

I made it to back to the race start and looked around for the 7min/mi start...nope! There was only an 8 min/mi banner. Oh well, I'll start there!

We walked maybe a half mile to the race start, then the race started. Right off, several ppl sprinted off. Really? Sprinting to start a half mary is noob...unless you're going to rock it.

Anyways, I settled into a pace with a runner named Dan, from Connecticut. Nice guy. We ran together for the next three miles and talked about family, racing, and our professions.

Dan and I picked off runners that started off too fast. They were hurting after a mile and a half. D00d, it's going to be a long race for you. Pace is the name of the game.

At the 2.5 mile mark, another racer came up on us. I decided it was time to push the pace a bit at this point. Dan and the other racer hung until aprox mile 3, then fell behind. The racer that came up on us was the eventual 4OA. I think Dan took 6OA.

Two racers ahead of me at this point, but they were at least a minute ahead. I tried to step it up and make up ground, but don't think I was able to put much of a dent into their lead.

I settled into cruise control, trying to keep the rest of the miles at a pace of 6 min/mi or better. It was easy on the out, as it seemed it was a minimal decline. The return would be a bear, though.

At the turn around, I caught a glimpse of the OA and 2OA and they looked strong. The OA was in basketball shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt. Run in what is comfy, right? I'd be CHAFED up bad if I ran in that.

After the turn around, saw a small group of runners behind me and I high fived a few and yelled at them to stay strong. After that, all the oncoming runners kept yelling motivating things, telling me to catch the leaders, which were a minute or so ahead. I acknowledged as many ppl as I could, yelling back "thank yous" or "way to go"...In the end, I had to stop replying, but just nodded. It was too exhausting to keep doing that every few mins.

At the 11 mile mark, I was at 1:07 and KNEW I had to pick it up if I wanted to come in under 1:20. I was about a minute off target. I really focused on just running as hard as I could. I had no idea what my pace was, but figured i was running slightly sub 6.

At the 12 mile point, I was at 1:14 and picked it up as much as I could. Probably running a 5:45 pace, but just could not go any faster. Off in the distance, I could see the end and I could barely make out a sub 1:20 split. When I hit the 13 mile mark, it turned into 1:20. I let off at that point and ran it in.

The crowds were great I enjoyed finishing.

Push the first 2 or 3 miles a bit faster. Not having my garmin is no excuse.

Talked with Dan, his friend Greg, and a few other racers. The 4OA was VERY complementary about my form and endurance. A question he asked that struck me as really funny was if I had taken a GU or something at mile 3 b/c of how I took off and left them behind. I just told him I had to make up time for the first few miles. Genuinely nice guy. I really like him. Raul or something...and a HELL of a runner.

After the conversation with Raul, ran with Dan and his buddy the opposite direction of the race together. We ran a mile out, then a mile back...super easy.

I heard them talk about a hawk or some other bird of prey that caught a rodent along the trail right after I ran by. I would have loved to have seen it. Love nature.


Headcold and lack of runs the week leading into the race...I also think I cuold have run better with garmin...probably all mental.


I really liked this race...except the COTTON long sleeve tshirts...last year they were technical long sleeve...