Columbia Half-Marathon Challenge - RunHalf Marathon

I found a Drill Sergeant who said he could keep 10 minute pace. I ran with him for the first 6 miles and he was dead on. I felt really good through the first 6, but could tell the next 7.1 were gonna be tough. It was shortly after the 6 Mile marker that I just flat had to walk. I never promised anyone that I was gonna run the whole thing. So I didn't feel guilty. My first walk only lasted about 20 seconds when I recognized someone from Columbia Multisport Club who was passing me. I hopped back into a running motion and I ran with her for almost the next 3 and 1/2 miles. It was somewhere around mile 9 that I couldn't hold pace any more and had to stop and walk(I had been walking drink stations and whenever my CMC counter part wanted to, but she was still going on this one). I didn't walk long and I ran by myself for a bit. I kept hearing people behind me but they would blow by like I was standing still(which I almost was). I was getting a bit depressed by these people going by so quickly until I realized it was relay runners. They had just started thier legs right around the 9 mile marker so had only been running like 10 minutes. That made me feel a bit better. The trail we were on at this point crossed a big field that would connect us back to the trails we ran at that beginning of the race. I could see the CMC person I was running with as well as some of the other people who had recently passed me. This was some motivation to pick up the pace. I also knew that at the end of this field loomed a pretty steep hill that we had ran down already. I wanted to catch the group and the CMCer but they had probably a 1/4 mile on me at this point after running 10 miles my closing speed is not much faster than my walking speed. I started seeing people that I recognized from the beginning of the race including a very large muscular man who was calling out times to someone he was "pulling along". He swore we were on pace for 2:15, but after running with him for a bit and comparing times he realized we were looking more like 2:20-2:25. I found that encouraging people to run with me when I started to pass them helped keep me moving and even developed a small group of runners. I had a couple of goals going into this 1) finish. 2) not finish last. 3) finish faster than 2:45. It was in the last 2 miles that I decided my 4th goal would be to finish before the last relay team. I figured if I could finish this thing before a group of people that only had to run a little over 4 miles each that would be a good accomplishment. Every time in the last 3/4 mile I saw a pink bib representing a relay person I would run with them for as long as I could maintain their pace. It wouldn't last but I think it helped my total time. I got into the main stretch and found my wife and children waiting for me at the end of the finish area. My 3 year old ran up to give me a high-five and something in my head snapped and I picked him up and ran with him for the last 25 yards to the finish line. I saw that my time was 2:24, but I don't know the seconds. People kept asking me if I carried my son the entire way and I got distracted and couldn't focus on the clock. I also forgot to stop my stopwatch so I will have to wait until the results get posted to get the exact time details. I got my finishers medal/keychain thingy, and a cold water.

I would find someone I knew to start out with. It was ok running with someone just for the sake of keeping pace, but with someone you know you can talk about things other than running which really helps make the time go quicker.

My warm down consisted of carrying my son back to where my wife and other son were and avoiding rolling down the hill into the creek that ran through the park. I made sure not to sit and pretty much chugged the bottle of water. I quickly made my way to the food tent and got another bottle of water, a coke, and some food and sat, ate and talked to my family about the run. There was a group giving massages, but the line was pretty long and I knew I needed to get going to I stayed for the awards and headed home.


Training. I think the 1 1/2 to 2 month taper for this event was a bit long. Next time I will try to make my last long run be within two weeks of the event. :)


This was a great first 1/2 Marathon. Almost makes me want to run a full sometime in the future. Maybe next April I will run the Spirit of St.Louis. I better start training now.