This was my first run race. Have done 3 sprint triathlons. I was not prepared for how many people and how congested the run course was. Due to getting to the race late we started back to far and my first mile was slower than it should have been. Also, I was not mentally prepared (having never run the course before) for the hill coming up out of the tunnel. It and the smaller hill shortly thereafter kicked my butt and I had trouble getting my speed back after that.

Mile / Mile Pace / Avg Heart Rate
1 / 8:08 / 185
2 / 7:27 / 184
3 / 7:49 / 182
4 / 8:40 / 183 (Bridge - uphill)
5 / 7:57 / 178
6 / 7:42 / 180
7 / 7:47 / 180
8 / 7:50 / 179
9 / 7:51 / 182
10 / 8:35 / 178 (Tunnel - uphill)
11 / 8:15 / 180
12 / 8:18 / 179
13 / 8:08 / 183
Remainder / 8:03 / 183


1. Get to race earlier.
2. I think I need more practice drinking from cups while at speed.
3. More training. I've been running just over a year, but last 5 weeks was first time I really focused on just running. Started doing speed work and tempo runs, etc.

Walked around, drank gatorade, stretched


I actually don't think I could have run this much faster. I was spent by the end of the race.


I think the decision to start the half marathon 5 minutes after the marathon was necessary due to construction on the bridge but it created its own set of problems. Walkers also started 5 minutes before the half.