Cox Rhode Races Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Providence, Rhode Island
United States
Cox Rhode Island
50F / 10C
Precipitation
 		Total Time = 1h 30m 20s
Overall Rank = 48/1386
Age Group = M0139
Age Group Rank = 29/327
Pre-race routine:

Got to the State House parking lot at 8:15 and got in line for the bus. One came in about five minutes, but we didn't fit on that one. Waited for another 30 minutes in the rain for the bus to come back. One of the race volunteers told us that they were not going to start the race on time, so we wouldn't miss it. By this time, I really had to pee, but decide to hold it instead of peeing in the State House parking lot (like some people). The bus came and we took the 15 minute trip to the race start. Every bump was jostling my full bladder and I was really annoyed with the crappy transportation setup. When we got to the site, Danielle brought our bag to the gear drop off and I sprinted for the porta-potties only to see a line of 30 people for the ten porta-potties. I was not going to wait, so I ran to a nearby parking lot and peed between some cars. It was starting to rain hard now and I was already soaked.
Event warmup:

I ran to the starting area and heard the gun go off. I was really far back in the field, so it was a minute before we started shuffling towards the start and another minute before passing the starting mat.
Run
  • 1h 30m 20s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 06m 54s  min/mile
Comments:

Since I started so far back in the pack, I was dodging and weaving to get through the crowd for the first mile and a half. The rain stopped after ten minutes, but my clothes and shoes were soaked from running through the puddles. After I was out of the heavier traffic, I was able to watch my pace and try to hit my goal of 6:45 per mile. The hilly terrain made that hard and my pace dropped on the uphills and I couldn't make that up on the downhills. I used a few of the water stops and Gatorade was provided at some. The entire race I was passing people, which was entertaining, but not good for running fast.
Mile.Pace.HR
1....7:08..181
2....6:44..182
3....6:50..183
4....6:59..182
5....6:47..180
6....7:12..182
7....6:55..181
8....6:39..179
9....7:13..181
10...6:41..175
11...6:33..181
12...6:42..182
13...6:30..178
14...6:20..188
What would you do differently?:

Seed myself at the front. The posted ranking are using gun time, so I would have been several places ahead if chip time was used. Running with people slower than me probably slowed me down even after the first couple miles.
Post race
Warm down:

Got some pizza, which was not very good, and a Dunkin Donut cookie, which was very good. I got my checked bag, changed into a dry shirt and tried to watch for Danielle to finish. I missed her, so she had to search for me while I watched lots of people finish while wondering what happened to her. I got more cookies and then we walked back to my car at the State House.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Hills, starting too far back and the rain.

Event comments:

I would have given this race a five except for the poor transportation from the parking sites. The rest of it was top-notch.




Last updated: 2008-04-25 12:00 AM
Running
01:30:20 | 13.1 miles | 06m 54s  min/mile
Age Group: 29/327
Overall: 48/1386
Performance: Good
Course: Flat and fast like the race website advertised? Hell no! It was 13.1 miles of rolling hills winding through Providence.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4