Kansas Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Having ridden 80 miles the day before, this race was shaping up to be a training run more than anything.

My thought at start time was that I'd run 8 to 8.5 minute miles and see how I felt. I actually hung with the 1:40 pace group for the first few miles thinking that was probably a little too quick even though I wasn't feeling bad at the time. They eventually picked up the pace and a gladly let them go. After that I just settled into a confortable pace. Eventually the 1:45pace group caught up with me, probably around mile 5 or 6. Some short time after that I passed them at a water station. We got near the campus area and there was a nice long climb and I could hear the 1:45 pacer telling the group to relax and keep a steady pace up the hill and not to push too hard.

For some reason I decided to push a little bit up the hill and I passed a few people on the way up. Then there was a descent which I focused on breathing, making sure I got plenty of oxygen into my lungs. One more long climb after that. On the flat portion before the climb was behind this guy wearing an IM CdA tri suit. He started to pull away a little but once we started the climb I closed the gap and passed him about half way up.

Once I crested the climb I knew there was less than 3 miles to go. It was a nice downhill after that, and downhill most the way to the finish. I kicked it in a little just to make sure I stayed ahead of the 1:45 pace group. As I crossed the finish line I saw my daughter there patiently waiting for her dad that disappeared for nearly two hours.


Mile Splits

1 7:56
2 8:13
3 8:09
4 7:39
5 7:44
6 7:46
7 7:37
8 7:58
9 8:18
10 7:58
11 7:50
12 7:36
13 7:18


Nothing. I think my hydration was spot on, took a gu around mile 6 or so, took gatorade at 2 stations, water at another. I actually felt pretty good those last 3 miles, much better than I expected after the long bike ride the day before. I could have pushed the pace actually but since a PR was not going to happen, I figured I'd keep this run closer to training pace than race pace.

Got Chocolate Milk, half a banana and a chicken sandwhich. Walked to the car with my daughter, changed shirts then walked back to the finish area to meet up with Jon, Pete and Patrick.


Oh I don't know, perhaps the 80 miles on the bike the day before....


From my perspetive this was a good race. I heard others say things about traffic control in the neighborhoods, i.e. cars almost backing into runners, drivers cussing at runners etc. I also heard a comment about not having enough volumteers at the aid stations, or having 'kids" at eh aid stations. I didn't have an issues in those areas but maybe where there were bigger packs of runners it was.

Overall I thought the volunteers did a great job. There were lots of them out there, especially in the neighborhood sections blocking off traffic.