Clemson Easter Bunny Run Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

This was a perfect day for a race - start temps were in the upper 40s and it was clear and sunny. I never got into a groove for this race. I don't know exactly what my problem was, but the effort was labored and sort of anxious? unnatural? the entire time. There is an uphill for the first mile or so coming out of the bot gardens that I think I must have pushed a little too hard, then I never really recovered from it. This is a hilly course and I knew it going in, I've run some of the roads, but for some reason the hills just killed me on this one.

Anyway, the areas through the neighborhoods were nice, I saw my family around mile 4 and that was a nice boost. I thought I'd really settle into the flatter trail areas on the dikes, but I found the change from the road surface to be a little unsettling.

The last few miles have some big hills, before a downhill back into the finish area (the reverse of the hill at the start). Although I didn't go into this race planning to run/walk (except water stops), I found myself taking frequent walk breaks in the last 3-4 miles or so.

In the end, the clock showed me coming in under 2 hours, my Garmin had me at 2:00:54 and 12.8 miles, and my official time was 2:02:05. The explanation I heard was that they had started the main clock late (hence the clock showing under 2 hours at my finish - they had it turned at an angle so it wasn't full-on visible as you went over the finish line). They also said that the start was essentially a gun-time start, whereas I had started my Garmin as I crossed the mats that I assumed were the start line - this explains the difference between my Garmin time and the official time. Then the finish was chip-timed. I don't know the reason for the course reading short on my Garmin. The official time would be a PR for me (old PR, 2:04:05) but in my mind it'll have an asterisk until I beat it. According to my Garmin, my pace was almost exactly the same as my old PR.

As it turns out, I took third in my AG (though it might have been a bump up with someone in my AG in the overall or masters top 3 - the online results don't give ages though). And on the books it's a PR, so I'm going to live and learn with this one. It's not like I totally sucked it up, I just felt awful.

Take it easier at the start. I totally forgot the advice I'd gotten before my previous PR HM, which was - for the first half of the race, ask yourself "am I going slow enough?" and for the second half of the race, ask yourself "am I going fast enough?" I did not do either.

My family was at the finish and I took a little walk with my sister-in-law, drank some 'ade and water, and ate a banana.


My mind, mostly. For some reason, I was just mentally off during this race.


This is a nice, smallish, well-supported half marathon (with associated 5K and Easter egg hunt). The course is challenging, with some good-sized hills especially toward the end. Clemson is a scenic town and campus, which I might have been able to appreciate a bit more had I not been so focused on not dying.