Gobbler Grind Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

A little concerned about how I'd perform for this. I missed my last big training run due to traveling conflicts, and my training has been mediocre the last three weeks. I wasn't worried about my fitness, but I was concerned I wasn't going to be able to perform the way I wanted. My goal was to find a good strong pace and hold it, and with any luck it would be a fast pace.

The first 5k seemed to take forever. Lotsa turns around the Corporate Woods' streets - a bit annoying. Actually, it wasn't that bad, I just really wanted to settle into a zone while running a consistent straight line. But it was a bit of a necessity in order to spread out the field before taking to the running trail.

I was pushing just under 7 minute miles for those first 3 miles, which felt comfortable enough, I just hoped I could maintain it, but there was nothing to indicate otherwise. I spent much of this time feeling out the other runners around me and seeing what kind of pace they were holding. Three miles in I could tell there were many who were finding out that the pace they chose to start out the race in was going to be too fast for them, so I saw many runners around me fall my pace.

Once I hit the trail is when I really started to enjoy myself. Miles 4 through 9 just flew by. My mile splits up to this point were solidly consistent, sitting between 6:50 and 7:05 - with variability only due to the terrain. Starting after mile 8 though the trail hits a series of street over/underpasses. They're great when you're running down them, but a bitch when you have to run up these small curving loops. By the time miles 10 and 11 came around my legs were getting fried and my splits slipped to about 7:20 mile splits.

I made my only pit stop of the race at the 10 mile turn around point to take in a GU packet and a cup of water. I didn't need any more fuel than that on a day like today. Ignored all the other aide stations and my extra GU packet. Once I was pointed in the direction of the finish line I was just waiting to get to mile 12, because at that point all I would have is a long slow decline downhill and then I was home free. I was running mostly alone at this point, no one within a reachable distance ahead of me, and no one behind me. I missed having a little extra motivation to catch someone near the finish, but I tried as hard as I could to finish strong regardless.

Grabbed some water and orange slices. Didn't have too much to stick around for, so I slowly walked over to my car and headed home. Kind of nice really. I'm used to sticking around for longer periods of time after a triathlon.


Not too many regrets here. It was only my second open half marathon, so I didn't think a PR would be a problem, assuming everything went as expected. It was nice to get the PR by 5+ minutes. With exception to the two miles near the end, my mile splits were reliably consistent. I think with more training and experience I can get this time down further.


A "smaller" no frills race that usually gets a good turnout (although the Northface race the day before may have pushed down participation this year). All of the basics were covered well, great volunteers, and good organization. I think if I were running the marathon I would have liked to see more nutrition options out on the course, but for a half marathon I think what was provided was adequate.