The start was pretty crowded. I just settled in to a comfortable pace and went with the flow when needed. By about mile one the crowd had thinned out and I settled in to a great pace. In the second mile I realized I needed a (another) porta potty stop. Fortunately there was one at the first water station just after mile two.

Once that was taken care of I got back in to my groove. I just kept going, no desire to stop and rest. It was awesome! at about mile 5 we passed back by the initial water stop then there was a slight climb up to the county roads. I took this opportunity to eat my gel and get a drink of water. This was my first drink, probably because it was cool. I didn't feel thirsty but the water tasted good.

The country roads were nice. We ran along the bike lane. At about mile 8 I started to feel an urge to walk. I convinced myself to slow down a bit and go till mile 9 before walking a few steps. That worked out becaue there was a water station at about 9. They had Heed too so took a cup of that. Blech. Water please!

Between 9 and the finish a walked a few steps a couple more times but each time I was able to convice myself to go further. This is progress!

I was so happy with this race and I can see why so many people say that HM is their favorite distance.

Absolutely nothing. I hadn't prepared for this race. It was a last minute decision so I intended to take it easy. But I still stretched myself mentally.

Put my feet up for a few minutes then had some bananas and an orange. Then went for an eggnog dirty chai at Starbucks!


lack of training for this race


I gave this one an average mostly because of the lack of ability to get information. The course is beautiful and well marked so the lack of a lot of volunteers isn't a big drawback. There is no website from which to get information. The only info is what is listed on Active.com. I can't find any listing of race times/ranks. Not a big deal for me because I was just running my run, but this could be a problem for more competative types. Also, as I recall there were aid stations at 2, 5 and 9. Again, I had heard this might be the case (from reading prior years RRs on BT) so I brought my own water.

The finish line had finishers medals for the HM, plenty of fruit and water and pancakes for people who could eat pancakes after running 13 miles.

I would do this one again because the course was great, but have no other expectations.