Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

I had an ok first 4-5 miles, running with a couple of buddies. I lost them at a water station and had my first glimmer of "this is going to be hard" when I realized I could see them 20 yards in front of me, but didn't think I had the oomph to catch them and keep up with them - and it was still early in the race. It was hot, and humid, with little wind, and that is a trifecta of my worst race conditions.

A friend of mine who was spectating (it was his daughter's first half) jumped in with me and ran with me for 2 miles. I owe him a huge debt - he talked me through my first bad time. Then I found another friend who I run with often - she's tall, and very fast, but she was having a lot of trouble with the heat. Her face was so red it was starting to get white again around the lips - she looked bad. So I just decided to stick with her and that we would help each other get through.

We walked a couple of times for 30 seconds or a minute, but mostly we just concentrated on getting to the end. We chatted some, were quiet some, and I might have helped her to keep going in miles 8-12, but she kept me going for the last one, which was really, really hard for me.

Run a half-marathon in cool weather. I'm definitely doing Whistlestop this year.

Didn't really warm down - had to hurry up to meet husband for some other plans that didn't end up working out. Then enjoyed a post-race grill out with other fellow sufferers. The marathoners in the group were by far worse off.


A little extra weight, not enough focused run training, and the heat/humidity.


I am so glad that early on I revised my mental goals from best case to worst case scenario. I knew I would have a tough race, and just wanted to get in under 2:20, which I did (chip time, anyway). It was much more important to me to stick with my friend - I was honestly worried about her. We thanked the volunteers, tried to enjoy the sights, and just got through it together.