Coming into this race I wasn't sure what to expect. My training had been pretty much non-existent since I finished the Rev3 half. I knew that my mid-summers goal of 1:37 (half of a BQ time) was out the window, but I thought I should still be able to pull of a sub 1:40. I ended up starting with corral 3 toward the back. By the time I got to the start line things had opened up a little bit on the left hand side. I didn't have to do too much weaving for the first mile or so. I was able to get into my pace pretty quickly and just start running. After about a mile and a half the first of the wheelchair racers came through on the section of Broad that goes in both directions. This caused all of the runners again to bunch up to the left, this slowed me down a little and caused some more weaving in and around people. The upside is the inspiration those wheelchair athletes provide, they were flying. Nothing too exciting about the Broad St section, the crowds and bands were great though.

The first turn of the race brought about a lot of congestion. Going from a 5 lane road that is totally closed to a 2 lane residential street was tough. It got really tight for the little section on Parkview and Maryland. A couple of times I hopped up onto the grass to make a pass. I also found myself on the left side and then the right and the back to the left. All of this congestion is really my fault though, get there earlier and start in the right corral next time. Once onto Drexel things opened back up a bit. We were a third into the race and I was feeling great. I was checking my Garmin and I was keeping and average pace right around 7:35 or so. I was happy with that.

At the 10k mark I was 45:40 on my Garmin. This was pretty much where I wanted/needed to be for my goal. I even had thoughts to try to push my pace a little to see if I could somehow get to 1:37. After probably a quarter mile of entertaining those thoughts, I dropped it back down to my 7:35 pace. The second half of the race was really uneventful. I knew I was going to hit my goal and was really starting to enjoy myself. Once we got into German Village I knew it was no more than just a 5k home and I was good to go. As we turned onto High St again I saw the 3:30 pace group. That was a fairly good sized group and I had to maneuver around some parked cars to get by them.

As we approached the overpass for the highway I thought this is where I'm going to really pick up the pace. I need to check my splits again, but I think I ran the last mile in about 7:05. That last mile was really a joy, I had a big smile on my face knowing that 1:40 was not a problem. I cruised in across the finish line feeling like I ran the race I wanted, but knowing that there is time to be shed as well.

Get to the start line earlier so I can get in the right corral. I am run the Las Vegas Full in December and will not make that mistake again. Other than that not much different on race day. As for prep, I would probably run more than a handful of times in the 4 weeks leading up to the race. I think yesterday was ony my 6th run for the month of October.

Grabbed a space blanket, a water, chocolate milk and a doughnut. Stretched a little, then headed back to the car to go get some breakfast.


Poor preparation leading up to the race. In the 4 weeks after Rev3 I really probably only ran about 10 - 12 times.


This was only my 2nd Half Marathon. My first was a pretty small one in the FL panhandle. This race was probably 10 times larger and it was awesome. I loved everything about this race. The course had plenty of good loud spectators. The live bands throughout the route were great too. Course was flat and fast. Maybe next year I will do the full.