Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Camp Pendleton, California
United States
Hard Corps Race Series
76F / 24C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 26m 16s
Overall Rank = 731/879
Age Group = Women 25-29
Age Group Rank = 35/41
Pre-race routine:

I did this race with my sister. We woke up about 15 minutes too late, lagged while getting ready, stopped for coffee, and basically underestimated the amount of time it would take for us to get to the race site. So by the time we got there, we were cutting it a little close and had to park far away.
Event warmup:

Booked it from the car to the start area, got t-shirts (they were out of our size) and got marked, age on the right calf and gender on the left. I think they were supposed to be marking "M" and "C" for military and civilian, but most of the body markers didn't get the memo and were marking M and F. The guy wrote "M" on my sister's calf and she was like "ummm, what's the M for?" and he was like "oh, sorry, had a rough night" and crossed it out and wrote "F". Then since we didn't have time to run back to the car, we had to stash our bag under the bleachers. Once we got in the pack to start, we momentarily panicked because we thought our bag was missing, but it turns out we were looking at the wrong set of bleachers...oops. So if anyone saw a woman laying on the ground looking under the bleachers yelling "where the F is my bag!!??!!" that was me.
Run
  • 2h 26m 16s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

I ran the first mile with my sister to warm up, then started running at my own (somewhat faster) pace. Near the beginning there was a decent hill, and the rest of it was moderate rolling hills. We had started in the back of the pack, so I was able to pass quite a few people. I let my sister borrow my watch so I didn't have one, but from the comments of people around me I was able to figure out that I was running about 11-minute miles, which is a comfortable pace for me. At about mile 3 I got stuck behind a 19-year-old man who I will refer to as "B.O. Boy". Eventually I passed him on a hill, but then he passed me again, and we leapfrogged until the turnaround when I was able to stay ahead of him.

About 1/2 mile after the turnaround I ran into my sister. I asked her how she was doing, since she had a cough all week and had contemplated not racing. She looked fine and said she was feeling good. Around mile 7.5 I started to feel some pain, and motivation was low until I saw the 9-mile marker. Then I had to run up the big hill again. At the top of the hill there was an aid station with Gatorade and water. I grabbed a cup of each and as I was passing through I heard one of the Marines yell "that's the last of the Gatorade!!" I remember thinking that my sister was going to be pissed when she reached that station. I tried to run fast down the other side of the hill, which was painful. Between the 11 and 12-mile markers I entertained myself by picking up pieces of quartz that were on the ground, although I didn't end up keeping any of them. Then I passed a Marine who had gotten a tarantula to crawl onto his boot and was showing all the runners. At the 12-mile mark I got my 3rd wind, and felt pretty good through the finish.
What would you do differently?:

I was fairly satisfied with my time. I took about 7.5 minutes off of my first half marathon time, which was on a much easier course. I think I could have pushed more during the first half of the race.
Post race
Warm down:

Waited for my sister to cross the finish line. Her boyfriend showed up, and we waited some more. Turns out she had a rough last couple of miles and ended up finishing in just over 3 hours, last in our age group. She wasn't too happy with that, but it was her first half marathon and she was sick, so I just think it's awesome that she finished.

While we were waiting we saw a Marine who ran the race in boots and pants, carrying a large American flag. There was also a couple in their 60's who finished holding hands, and a 77-year-old man. All of these people got a lot of applause.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My relative inexperience and low running volume. Maybe in a year or two I will break into the MOP!!

Event comments:

I have really enjoyed the Camp Pendleton races I've done, but this one didn't seem quite as well organized as the other two. Running out of Gatorade when 2/3 of the runners were still on the course was not cool, and running out of small t-shirts wasn't cool either.... although I guess it's my own fault for showing up late.




Last updated: 2008-07-21 12:00 AM
Running
02:26:16 | 13.1 miles | 11m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 35/41
Overall: 731/879
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back course on a dirt fire road, plenty of hills. I think I remember reading that the course has about 1200 total feet of climbing. Aid stations every mile, but most of them only had water.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3