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#7 – Florida
Race Bib
State #7
I know, I know. I’m very late in publishing a recap of the Pensacola event. I got a little twisted up with other events and just never made time to write the recap. Needless to say, this year hasn’t exactly gone to plan, but hopefully it’ll end on a high note. I’m one December race away from completing one new years goal which was to run in at least one 5K event in every month of the year. So who cares if some of my other goals didn’t really pan out the way I was hoping.
Mural
After a chilly trip to Nashville and an unexpected freezing run through Uptown New Orleans, I really needed a warm retreat. And even though it took until the last minute on Sunday, Florida didn’t disappoint. It had started off pretty chilly during the leadup to this particular weekend. It wasn’t bitter cold but it had been in the 50s for highs. When I got to Florida, it was still only about 60 which was still chilly especially near the water. It was also a little breezy, so I was slightly worried about it being too cold during the run on Sunday morning.
The expo in Pensacola was fairly simple; although I know I was ignored by a Bama fan volunteer because I was wearing an LSU shirt on the day that LSU and Alabama were playing each other. Luckily, another super polite volunteer was there to assist me. Afterwards, they pretty much force you to snake through their expo to get your shirt at the very end. Every race is different. Some places don’t have much of an expo at all while others were pretty large with all sorts of booths and exhibits, and free stuff. I had family with me on this trip and they were waiting in the car so I just didn’t bother much with looking this time. I ignore the calls to try their products; although I also don’t remember seeing many free things like food/energy drinks/snacks like I’ve seen at other expos, and I finished up by getting my shirt and testing my tag to make sure it worked properly. Then it was off to Pensacola Beach to the hotel, beaches and dinner.
Pensacola Bay
Luckily, the next morning it felt pretty good. It was definitely warmer on the beach. It was in the 50s on the beach while the city itself was in the 40s and inland towards Alabama was in the 30s. I didn’t feel cold at all on the beach but I felt a little chilly once in the city itself. I almost wondered if I should have worn long sleeves, but I decided to go for it without them. I knew that it was supposed to warm up well into the 60s quick and even make it into the 70s later that afternoon. Fortunately that ended up playing out perfectly and the chill was all but gone by the time we rounded the first corner.
5:00/2:30 Pace Group
The race itself didn’t have many thousands of runners like some, but it wasn’t small either. You could tell most of the community was involved in this race and there was a huge military presence as well with the Air Force base being nearby. There were several groups of servicemen running/jogging with full gear. There were many volunteers along the roads from the area installations as well. And everyone was so supportive, from the runners to the volunteers to the spectators. I saw many more spectators along this urban route than I did in New Orleans, but perhaps the cold weather kept the cajuns indoors. This race also had a drone flying over, which seems to have gotten real popular now. The MC said that there was supposed to be a canon fire at the start, so I started to hold my ears a bit just in case, but I never heard the canon which was fine by me.
Scenic Route
The race started fairly promptly and we made a quick loop around the main highway that connects the city to the beaches. So that was where we blocked the most traffic for the most time. But it was all within the first mile so everyone should have been by within 20 minutes or so. The first couple of miles run along Escambia Bay which is a lot larger than you’d imagine. Even though it was waterfront and there was a slight breeze, it wasn’t overly breezy and it never really got cold at all. The sun was rising behind a hazy sky and it was plenty warm enough. At first, I got behind a man/woman team who were run/walking already, and she was a fairly large woman, but I was impressed with how she was able to run past me when she ran and I’d run past her when she walked. So I began to think that perhaps she would be my pacer as she was obviously better trained for this than I initially gave her credit. Unfortunately she ended up falling back pretty quickly after Mile 1. But I give her credit, she was doing it.
Lake Charles representing
By the railroad underpass (the first real hill) before Mile 2, I had caught up to a lady from Lake Charles, LA pushing her daughter I believe in one of those racing chairs. I didn’t talk directly with her but she was talking with people around her as they were asking questions and giving her words of encouragement. I’m always iffy on how to approach people. I mean, I borderline think it’s rude to just be nosy for the sake of being nosy, but if the person obliges it then you tend to learn a lot and even make new friends. Turns out, this was her 9th marathon and either her 3rd or 5th time in Pensacola (after almost a month, I forgot exactly), so she knew all about ‘The Hill’. I actually ended up hanging with her and the 5:00 marathon pace group all the way up until the first split around Mile 6. That really made me feel good.
First split
Not very long after the split was the beer stop. No water, just beer. The crowd support for this race was really phenomenal, much better than some races I had been in. I always wonder about crowd support for slower runners at these type of events, but I never really realized that after the split, I had jumped from two thirds back in the pack to up in the front third because the elite marathons hadn’t made it back around yet. I saw the police cars rolling up behind me and didn’t know exactly what it was for at first. Then I saw them get around me and help to block off intersections more. About that time, I realized that the marathon leader must be approaching. Not long after that, I saw the bicyclists and camera crew proceeding the runner. There were more interested bodies and photographers around the leader in this race than were at the Jazz run in NOLA. I only saw one press truck in NOLA with one camera and nobody else pacing the leader. Too cold I guess. Haha.
Leader
So after the marathon leader passes me like I’m standing still, we reach ‘The Hill’. I didn’t realize that Pensacola had real hills, real steep hills. I yelled this out to one spectator who promptly responded with ‘Surprise!’ I don’t know for certain but it appeared we had slowly increased in elevation from the start around 25 feet up to nearly 100 feet, and then there was this steep drop to a back bay bayou. So all the way down to sea level and then immediately back up to where we were. Needless to say, I didn’t see too many people in my half marathon area running for long up the hill. It was slightly torturous. But at the top there were more people cheering and some were handing out bananas and water. Perfect reward for such a nasty climb. After that point, there was only one more bridge which really wasn’t that bad and then it was slightly downhill all the way to the finish.
Elvis is in road
When we got back downtown, I was surprised at how dead it was. It seemed like many businesses had abandoned downtown Pensacola. And there wasn’t a huge crowd there; although they were all waiting at the finish not long after. I also didn’t realize that there was actually another marathon split here. Although I was well into Mile 13, the marathon at this point was only around Mile 21 and proceeded to split off one last time before joining up for the final half mile sprint. Wouldn’t you know, I ended up getting back in front of the marathon leader. I was on the home stretch in sight of the finish line talking with another girl about how far that finish line looked and then we saw more police cars and flashing lights. My first thought was that perhaps it was the leading female in the marathon. Surely the male had already finished. I was trying hard to break 2:30 but by this point I knew I had failed. But then the police passed us along with that familiar camera truck and bikes and then, the male leader yet again. So the crowd erupted. For the second time, I finish a half marathon right behind the marathon winner. I’m not going to lie. This has a spoiling effect. It’s so much fun to cross a finish line so close to the actual winner. It makes it that much more special.
Finish Line
I wasn’t so sure about PR. I knew I was close being as it was 2:32, but I wasn’t sure exactly. After I got home, I was able to confirm that I had in fact run another personal best by just a few seconds. Perhaps 2:30 is in reach, but I realize it’s going to be tough and if I would stay up and running hard for long enough, I know I could do it. Two minutes should be nothing. I can’t wait to run another half marathon that has true half marathon pace groups for my time area like they had in Kansas. Most races don’t have half marathon pace groups up to 2:30 let along beyond it. But Kansas had pace groups for every five minutes or so which was great. The 5:00 marathon pace group helps but you’re not running the whole distance with them either, so it only helps if they split right at the half finish.
Medal
Anyway, this race was great. I was amazed with the support and how ‘big’ it felt even though it didn’t have some of the big event numbers of a Chicago or Philadelphia. It felt big. The finishers medal was big too. Huge in fact; with a blue angel jet on it. And plenty of stuff afterwards although I was mainly interested in the chocolate milk. They had some sandwiches which seemed dry. I would have stayed much longer but I had family waiting for me at the hotel on the beach so I packed up my stuff and headed on out. By now the weather had warmed up nicely so it was time to go spend the afternoon relaxing on the beach.
Destin
Three half marathons, back to back to back. Not so bad. I didn’t feel bad at all after them. In fact, I felt like I was getting better and better with each. Too bad it was so cold in New Orleans. Ha! But no more scheduled for this year, and no Louisiana half for January. Too expensive really. I was able to run in six states this year. Quite an accomplishment to say the least. I didn’t go further into debt, but I also didn’t pay things off or save nearly as much as I was hoping to. So I already have a feeling that next year will be tough. Not nearly as much traveling for sure. I’m already thinking that I may just try to do two big trips (one spring/one fall) where I try to run two halfs in two adjacent states over one weekend. That would be four states right there. And if I can sneak in a quick trip to the Mississippi coast in March, that’s five. That would be a win for me at this point as it would put me at 12 after only two years. Then perhaps 2016 will look brighter. Wish me luck.
Race: Pensacola Marathon
Date: November 9, 2014, 7AM
Place: Pensacola, Florida
Time: 2:32:23
#5 – Tennessee
STATE #5
Race Bib
After a long, hot summer, I’m back into the half marathon fix again. In a span of three weeks, I’ll be running in three halves in three states: Tennessee, Louisiana and Florida. I hope the weather continues to cool off.
It’s actually been a pretty warm autumn so far, but I picked the perfect weekend to drive to Nashville. On race morning, it was downright cold, 42 but it rose up to 48 by race time and stayed in the low 50s throughout the race. It was chilly, but it was perfect running weather. I don’t expect it to be that cold in New Orleans next weekend or in Pensacola the weekend after that.
The Music City Half Marathon shouldn’t be confused with some of the larger events in the area, namely the St. Jude Country Music or Rock n Roll – Nashville events. I would have loved to have run in the St. Jude but it came down to timing. This event is a much smaller event and coordinated through a local running club. Typically they don’t have 500 entrants in the whole race and that worried me in the beginning. This would be the smallest half marathon I’ve ever run in, and I wasn’t sure how much I’d like that. Fears of finishing last or not having enough support along the course raced through my mind prior to the race with my legs. I decided to commit and figured that this race would either end with me liking or hating small events.
Nashville
The race is an out and back starting at the Tennessee Titans Stadium and running mainly along a park trail before circling and returning to downtown Nashville. There was basically no traffic along this route. There were some other runners and bikers along the path but not enough to cause any issues.
At first glance, I felt as if there were probably 800 people at the starting line and a nice crowd to send runners on their way. Turns out there were 475. So much for estimations. The first mile and a half run along an industrial road that was closed off but not utilized anyway since it was a Sunday morning. I started off at the back this time since the field was pretty small and I didn’t want to feel too intimidated by faster runners and outpace myself too early. As a result, I ended up passing a good many people for the first half of the race. Not long after the race started, and I decided to turn on my iPod (I used the iPod this time since it was such a small race and I figured I could end up alone for large parts of the course), I found myself in a quite comfortable pace. I ran a steady 10:30-11:00min mile throughout the first 9 miles. This ended up giving me a false sense of believing that I was about to smash my personal best time of 2:30. For much of the race, I felt on pace to finish anywhere between 2:15 and 2:25.
By Mile 2, we were on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway, a nice wooded pathway for runners and bikers. It seems like paths cut straight through the woods at times but it was kept up very well. There were several wooden bridges over ditches and creeks and all but one were solid. One actually felt pretty rickety. I ended staying around people or having people stay around me through the first 9 to 10 miles. By Mile 4, we started seeing some of the leaders returning towards the finish line (about their Mile 9). Wow, if only i could finish that fast. But I continued to feel really comfortable. I kept moving along.
Leaders heading back
The race support was actually quite generous at first. There seemed to be water and gatorade stops everywhere. However, two were missing on my return trip. Also, by the time I got to the last two water stations, volunteers seemed more interested in drinking the water themselves instead of offering it to slow runners. That was honestly my biggest complaint about this race. Not a huge deal but still troubling enough especially since two of the water stops had closed up or ran out of water or whatever.
My downfall came at Mile 9, not so much that I was tired yet, but that I had lost track of the miles. They had mile markers at every mile but the one at 8 was missing. I was doing math in my head and thought that I was going to destroy my personal best. I knew the Mile 8 sign had to be missing but felt that Mile 9 was missing as well. Surely I was coming up on Mile 10. It seemed to take forever. But alas, when I approached the next sign, it was only Mile 9. That was my first big deflation. That’s when my pace slowed steadily to 11:30 and eventually into the 12 min/mile area. I also had my longest walking stretch here as well. I still thought I was going to beat my time but not by much. It wasn’t until the last mile that I realized that I wasn’t going to beat it after all. That deflated me to the point where I walked around the last curve to save up to run through the finish. The clock said 2:33. Well, not that bad but…
Wait a second. I just checked back at my OFFICIAL times and realized that my 2:30 personal best from my Garmin actually counts any 13.1 mile stretch and not simply a race result. So my Garmin says that my best half is 2:30. But my official race records say that my best half before this race was 2:34:20 before this race. So I did set a new personal best of 2:32:30. Awesome!!!
Nearly a week afterward, I’m still mixed about this race. I honestly felt like it was my best run half marathon yet, but I still feel like my time doesn’t seriously reflect it. If I could have just concentrated more on the pace and not the distance, perhaps I could have finished five or even ten minutes faster. So part of me is still slightly disappointed. But all in all, I’m happy about the entire race and outcome. With a flat NOLA and Pensacola coming up, perhaps I can break my PR again before the year ends. I think from here on out, 2:30 is a great goal. Hope to see you in New Orleans next weekend. I will add that this race has made me really like small races. Hopefully I’ll continue to pick out excellent races. I’m glad I picked this one. Now where am I going in 2015?
Race: Music City Half Marathon
Date: October 19, 2014, 8AM
Place: Nashville, Tennessee
Time: 2:32:30
Finisher Medal
#4 – Illinois
Race Bib
STATE #4
I decided on this race in Chicago because I had the itch to fly again, use my medallion status and rack up a few extra miles before the Sky Mile changes all but box me out from Silver status starting next February thanks to their new $2500 spending rules. Plus I was interested in doing a summer run but preferably in a cooler climate. I had a feeling that it would be cooler than normal for the midwest especially since it took forever for the ice to melt completely off the lakes.
Chicago
Well, it worked. When I arrived in Chicago the day before, it was much cooler than I expected. It must have been about 72, dry as could be, with a breeze. It had been about 52 or so the night before. Good lord, you couldn’t beat the weather! When I left New Orleans, it was about 75 and thunderstorms, at 6am. At noon in Chicago, it was sunny and 72. It probably didn’t warm up much in New Orleans that day but it stormed most of the day and the humidity obviously 100%. When I returned, it was well into the 90s. Needless to say, there aren’t many (if any) large races in south Louisiana during the summer. This is why we go to places like Chicago. 🙂
Metra Commuter Train
I had it planned on how to get to the expo at McCormick Center without a taxi since it is a pretty long walk south of the Loop but short enough that I wanted to walk it back and see the lakefront and Shedd Aquarium. I was told to get on a particular train, as it was the last one for an hour. However, this particular train ended up not stopping at McCormick. I didn’t realize that until we had passed it and the train conductor came by asking for tickets. I had a one zone ticket obviously because he looked at it, looked at me and asked where I was going. I told him “McCormick” and he said this train wasn’t going to McCormick. Oh well. The guy in the ticket office had no clue I guess. Luckily, the conductor opted not to punch my ticket and told me to get off at the next stop, reverse direction and that train WOULD be stopping at McCormick. So I got off around 55th Street, reversed direction and got off at McCormick. It was still a win because even though I had to go extra distance and come back, it still only took me about 20 minutes, and I cheated the fare (accidently of course). This was much better than waiting another 40 minutes for the actual next train or walking there, or paying $20 for a taxi.
The expo was set up and organized well. Getting in and getting the packet was easy. I will add that I loved the tech shirts that they gave out, easily one of my favorite shirts now. The bag was really nice also. Unfortunately the bag only says “Marathon Series” and nothing directly related to Chicago. I did run across a booth for St. Jude and their series of races besides the big marathon they do in Nashville. I didn’t realize that St. Jude was directly involved with so many races. The lady in the booth pulled up a website and the list was really long, of large races. I knew of Memphis and Nashville, and I told her that we had just had a small little local 5K in Baton Rouge although it was for St. Jude. She said they were a part of the Dirty South race in Monroe also. I’ll definitely have to keep this in mind for future runs.
Ok, race day. No sense in dragging out this recap forever about little things. 😉
Starting Area
It was about six blocks from my hotel near the Sears Tower (I still can’t get used to saying ‘Willis Tower’. They aren’t even the main tenants right? Isn’t it United Airlines now? Maybe they should call it the United Airlines Tower.) I do enjoy the sight of watching hundreds upon hundreds of runners merging together from various blocks of downtown at 5:30am into one steady stream heading to the starting line. It’s a pretty exciting sight. I saw it in Philly for the first time and it was just an awesome feeling. Everyone coming from the Loop area was heading towards Grant Park where there were some 37 corrals. At first this seemed pretty ridiculous. Why 37? It would take forever to get through the start line. But they weren’t very large corrals and they lined them up to start about every minute or so after releasing the first few, so it really didn’t take that long. I think it ended up taking me about 40 minutes which is about what I expected. I was in corral 30. Yep, slow time for sure. Haha. And the weather really was great, but I did notice a considerable rise in the humidity between Saturday and Sunday morning.
Go!!!
Mile 1
Ok, now’s a good time to admit that my ‘training’ for this race was by far my worst. I wasn’t expecting much. I knew going into this that I wouldn’t PR. I never got passed 8 miles on any of my training runs due to various little reasons but ultimately due to laziness (I’ll admit), so I knew I was going to be struggling after the 10K mark. But for the first mile, I felt pretty darn good. We ran a course around downtown Chicago, to Lakeshore Drive, back along the Chicago River, across to the north but then back across to the Loop. There ended up being a lot of turns in the downtown portion of the course. There were also a lot of tunnels. This really screwed up my GPS, but I read from previous blogs that this could be an issue and was expecting it. I think my GPS was off by nearly a mile by the 10K mark because of downtown. This is why my watch ended up reading about 14.5 miles at the finish. Oh well; it’s part of it.
Mile 6 Band
I actually ran the first 10K not much slower than my norm. I ran the first 5K in 34 mins and the 10K in 72. I stayed on pace with the 2:30 group for much longer than I was expecting, but it was still probably much faster than I really needed to go with my lack of preparation. As a positive note, I am getting more used to the 10K distance now. I’m also getting used to running 8 miles as that seems to be my favorite stopping point. (It’s one of those things where 8 miles is a perfect distance where I usually run and to add even 4 more usually seems like a pain, or redundant with the loops I do, but I’m just going to have to suck it up and press on in the future.)
McCormick Tunnel
Now, for being a Rock n Roll race, there wasn’t a whole lot of rock n roll. I don’t think we came across our first band until into Mile 6. There was a stage set up with jugglers or circus performers of some sort somewhere around Mile 4 which seemed odd, but I didn’t really see most of them anyway because I was running on the opposite side of the street. However, the lady singing at Mile 6 was really good. She was singing Feels Like the First Time – Foreigner. I thought her music was by far the rockin-rolliest of all the groups out there. I would also like to add, concerning the first third or so of this race, crossing some of those bridges can be really trippy if you look down. Most of them have steel grates, which is actually really common in south Louisiana also with our drawbridges, but we don’t usually run across them. So when I got to the first one, made the corner and saw people jumping up onto the curbed walk path, and then looked down… I immediately understood why. I had a weird sense of vertigo on the first bridge. I quickly jumped up on the curbed sidewalk also. After that, I just never looked down. Problem solved.
Mile 8ish
As for the back half, well… somewhere from around Miles 7-10 got really boring. The course left downtown and the scenery became more lackluster. There still really weren’t any bands playing. There was one playing something folksy but he was in between songs as I ran by. Then there was a set of drummers, which I ran passed a set in Philadelphia and they were really awesome. I appreciated this group, but it just didn’t fit for me this time. There was a Santa Clause (Christmas in July?). Then after we ran down the opposite lanes of Lakeshore Drive before crossing over a lawn to the walking path, there was another sort of roadside band playing Barefootin. I did appreciate them being there. They deserve that much credit. But I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t just a little boring. I was walking much more in this stretch too, so the lack of scenery really didn’t help here. There was more sun in places so I felt hotter and there just wasn’t enough to distract me. Someone else made a comment about had they known there wasn’t going to be much of any music, they would have brought their own. I think I would agree. But looking back on this course and set up a week later, it really wasn’t as bad as I guess it could have been.
Final Stretch
Miles 11 & 12, personally my favorite. This stretch on the walking path really was a Love or Hate deal. Some people hated the walking path. Turns out that there were still a few bikers and other people trying to do their normal morning routine and had to deal with racers blocking them. Then there was the tunnel at McCormick. No, not really the brightest idea I’d have to say. Was there no way around it, like continued along the walking path? And then there was the music. I read several posts from people hating the music. Yes, I’m biased. I love EDM music. And I thought that the DJ here, along with the set up was near about perfect! They had speakers set up in various spots all along about a two mile stretch of this walking path, and the DJ himself was set up above yet another tunnel (albeit a shorter tunnel) around Mile 11. So the idea of having nearly continuous high energy music pumped directly to me for nearly two miles was a godsend. Granted, he may not have been playing EDM the entire time (from what I’ve read), but he was going pretty good by the time I got there. By far, this was my favorite portion of the course. Include an ice cold sponge bath and… Yes, my favorite portion of the course. This really did make up for the dullness a few miles back. Now all I had to do was actually finish. A benefit here was having the 2:45 pace group catch me along this stretch. They were a lot of fun and actually ran at a really good pace that I felt like I could keep up with and did keep up with until about that last water/sponge stop. Then I think I got more focused on my sponge than actually keeping up with anybody. Haha.
Willis Tower
The last mile was getting just a tad bit boring again, if it hadn’t been for looking directly at the Chicago skyline as we made our way towards the finish in Grant Park. There was some ups and downs from Lakeshore Drive exit ramps that we had to go along. (Speaking of hills, there was only one real pain in the butt uphill to cross a bridge coming back from the north to the Loop, but otherwise there were no real hills on this course. I guess it was a little steeper than I expected.) There was one final band playing just before the finish. I’m not sure why at that spot unless they were meant to entertain some of the crowd at that point too, but the singer there was really good too. (About the crowds, overall I found them to be pretty light, lighter than expected. In most places I nearly found them nonexistent.) Philadelphia still gets an A+ for their crowds.
So anyway, just under three hours later and I drag my ass across the finish line. Good thing too because I was just starting to burn a bit from the sun. I guess I’ll need to remember some sunscreen next time. Now that I think about it, out of the four halfs I’ve done, this one probably had the most sunlight. Philly was cloudy, Little Rock was icy, Kansas City was stormy. I’ll need to make a mental note about the sunscreen.
Medal
Post race was excellent really. I thought the medals were pretty awesome actually. A+ on the medals and t-shirts. A+ on drinks and wet towels afterwards, and sponges on the course, although I’d have to say B- as far as water/gatorade while on the course (not as well organized especially along the last couple of miles, but awesome volunteers, Thanks!). I was somewhat disappointed about the lack of music for a majority of the event, but there were some shining stars among the course. Cold War Kids was playing on the main stage after the race. I like some of their music, but I didn’t stay. I was more tired than I thought I’d be and I like nothing more after a long run than a cold shower. If I had to drive back an hour or so, I would have stayed longer (disadvantage of staying in a hotel close by). If there’s a cold shower waiting for me within walking distance, I’m heading to it. So I staggered on back to the hotel, cleaned up, and then continued with some touring by visiting the Sears Tower (there’s that Willis thing again) and then on to the Magnificent Mile.
All things considered, I thought this was a great race. Not my best course time (third, barely beating the time I walked through icy Little Rock), but great setting. From what I’ve read about Rock n Roll races, I think this one lived up to its reputation as a good one. Not to mention, of all the Chicago races there are, this is one of the few that actually runs on downtown streets which I certainly prefer, especially when you have 16,000+ people running all together.
I have signed up for the Jazz Half in New Orleans this November. Time to cross off the home state. I want to do the Louisiana Half Marathon (and may yet), but that race is getting to be really expensive already. Wow! Perhaps I’ll just run the 5K there. The Jazz was barely half the price. Plus I don’t think you can beat running down St. Charles Avenue Uptown. I’m also contemplating going to Nashville in October, another cheap half marathon. But I haven’t committed yet. This would give me five for the year which would easily keep me on goal for all 50 by age 50, maybe even all 50 within 10 years although I do anticipate it getting harder to get to far away states at my convenience.
Stay cool the remainder of the summer (of course this applies for south Louisiana people and perhaps not so much for Chicago people, haha), and perhaps I’ll see you in Nashville in a few months.
Race: Rock and Roll Half Marathon – Chicago
Date: July 20, 2014, 6:30AM
Place: Downtown Chicago, Illinois
Time: 2:50:14
#3 – Kansas
STATE #3
Race Bib
Less than two months later, time for another half marathon. Originally I was thinking of running two races back to back on the same weekend, one in Kansas and another in Oklahoma. In the end, I decided I wasn’t ready to run back to back half marathons. So I opted to run in Kansas instead of Oklahoma because this race just seemed to be fun. Kansas, Land of Oz, Garmin headquarters, Metro Kansas City, Bar-B-Que, 50 Dorothy costumes… what’s there not to enjoy. Unless the weather turns bad (more later). Another appeal was that the race was on a Saturday which gave me an extra day off to drive back home.
Is this Bob’s Road?
(Twister)
After a long scenic drive through the American heartland, a long detour around most of eastern Kansas to see tall grass and cows, I made it to Olathe just in time to pick up my race information and packet (actually, it appeared that you could pick them up race morning as well which was very convenient since parking was nearby too). The pickup was in a hotel conference room. Adjacent to the hotel was Oklahoma Joe’s. From what I was able to research, this appeared to be one of the top places to experience KC Bar-B-Que. We walked in there at a perfect time on a Friday evening. The line hadn’t grown very long yet. So we stood in line, ordered what we thought was best and proceeded to have a delicious KC BBQ dinner. I would have to agree, Oklahoma Joe’s is outstanding. But… when I tried to go back there after the race on Saturday and saw a huge line out the door and down the block, I decided to head into downtown Kansas City to the Power & Light District to see what was up. And low and behold, I think I came across the place even better than Oklahoma Joe’s. I was given a tip to try Jack’s Stacks. A place so good that Anthony Bourdain thought it was the best in BBQ but said that the place was too clean. It took a bit to find, near the Union Station just outside of downtown, but I will say without a doubt that it was the absolute best BBQ I’ve ever had, EVER! As quickly as OK Joe’s took #1 in my mind, I had to bump them down to #2. Honestly, I think Jack’s Stacks was infinitely better than OK Joe’s, that much better. But compared with most places I’ve eaten in the deep south, I’d still give the #2 spot to OK Joe’s. That place is still way better than anything you can get in Louisiana or Mississippi. But we’re not really known for our BBQ either. And no, I didn’t make the mistake of ordering anything cajun, creole, seafood or crawfish-looking while in the middle of the country, 1000 miles away from any water. Now that I’ve succeeded at getting us all hungry for the moment, let’s get on to the race itself.
Sunrise
Saturday started off beautiful. It was cool (for Louisiana standards) but very comfortable. It might have been around 54F. The sun was out, but there was a small chance of showers or a thunderstorm for the morning. I have no idea why. It was as if some renegade storm front was moving across the plains just to throw a wrench into everyone’s weekend plans. But at the time, none of that mattered in Olathe. I arrived about an hour early, parked very easily in the Garmin garage and proceeded to the race area. This is where I saw the most costumes. I must have seen fifty Dorothys. But I also saw a number of Glindas and a handful of tinmans, lions and scarecrows. I also saw a ton of pacers. They had pacers for almost every time that you could even imagine. They were everywhere. There were two for each group for the marathon and half marathon. I actually lined up around the 2:45 group mainly because I don’t like bunching up at the beginning of a race, but it really wasn’t that bad.
Start
I ended up creeping up past the 2:40 and not long after the start I was up with the 2:35 group. Within about half a mile, I inched on up to the 2:30 group. I stayed here until the first ‘hill’. The first hill wasn’t much so I kept on my steady pace and found myself with the 2:25 group quickly. We made our way through downtown Olathe and another water stop before reaching the real hill. By the time the pacers were telling everyone NOT to look ahead, it was too late. It was a straight down and back up incline, pretty steep. This came in between miles 4 and 5 which was probably best. I would have hated this thing at the finish. This was the first time that I walked and it was only towards the end of the incline. I can usually manage hills, but this thing was pretty steep and I knew that we had a long way left to go. This was also when I began to notice the dark black clouds roll towards us and the thunder in the distance.
The Hill
Surprisingly, I was still able to hold on to the 2:25 group after the big hill and continued with them on back over I-35 (which is another more gradual hill) around Mile 7. This was about when the rain started. It was those large and spaced out big drops at first, not a real downpour. The thunder got louder though and I could see some flashes out of the corner of my eye. We were still heading more eastward though, but this wasn’t good. Originally we were heading north and west, seemingly away from the weather, but now we had looped back and was heading straight back towards it.
Storm approaching
By Mile 8, right before the park, it was starting to lightning pretty good and I couldn’t tell if it was cloud lightning or ground. I love weather, but I also like it from inside my car or other shelter. I make no excuses that I’m pretty terrified of lightning, especially when I’m outside exposed to it. I felt confident that there was going to be some sort of announcement, sort of like in Arkansas, race stopped, seek shelter, wait out the weather. For a while, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I figured that the race clock wouldn’t stop but I was going to stop my Garmin anyway. I kept playing out scenarios in my head, what do I do if the race is stopped or canceled, what do I do if lightning strikes nearby, what do I do if lightning strikes somebody near me, what if lightning strikes me? I do realize that runners run in all sorts of weather conditions, but I have never willingly run in lightning. I ran around the lakes once with a storm approaching and was able to make it back to my car before it got close enough. I wasn’t stupid enough to run a second lap just because I needed to even though lightning was in the area. But this was new territory for me. What would happen next? So basically I just watched around me to see what everyone else did.
Trail
Once on the park trail, we were surrounded by trees. I actually felt better with the trees around me. I didn’t feel so exposed then. Surely lightning would strike a tree before trying to weave down through the canopy for me. The rain also started to come down harder. I made it to the first tunnel at around 9.5 and was really wondering what would happen next. I really really didn’t want the race to be canceled outright. I was starting to think of how mad I would be if I had run 9 miles just to have the race canceled completely due to a storm. You mean I’d have to come back to Kansas to run another race again to have it count? But I also didn’t want to get struck by lightning. So after passing the first tunnel (where nobody stopped for longer than 10 seconds), I kept tracking on but at a slightly slower pace. I began to lose the 2:25 group. Every time lightning would strike, I’d duck down a bit. I tried to stay with a group of people, selfishly thinking that perhaps it would lessen my chances of getting struck. By myself in the open, yeah, I was certainly a sitting duck. So I would run fast to catch a group, then slow down to let another group catch me. Total selfishness on my part. 😉 (I don’t believe anybody died out there that day, so we can joke about it now)
Not very far down the road, maybe around Mile 10, there was a huge bolt of lightning. At that point, I had almost had enough. I just knew the race was canceled now. No way we could continue. I also heard car horns blowing and thought that that was the sign to stop. I saw a second tunnel ahead and I told someone that I was heading for the tunnel. We ran fast to the tunnel and then I stopped. I stopped my watch and proceeded to watch about 50 or so people run past me over the course of about 45 seconds. Well, surely these people know what they’re doing I thought. They either know something that I don’t or they’re completely insane. So after realizing that the race wasn’t stopping let alone there weren’t any sane people in the crowd who were willing to save themselves rather than finish a silly little race, I decided to suck it up, start my garmin back up and continue into the electric storm. If I died today, I was going to be really pissed. 😛 By now, the 2:30 group had caught up and was starting to pass me. I had to let them pass. Every time lightning would strike, I’d cower down a bit, slow down, look around to assess the situation. Did you notice, that creek next to us was rising as well. Luckily it never got that high. Luckily also, the storm started to pass by about a mile after the second tunnel. I’m passed Mile 10 now, no way I’m stopping now. I was surprised that my phone made it through the storm. I packed it underneath an under pocket once the rain started. I really didn’t care at that point. My phone is due for replacement anyway and it’s getting so slow now. I think I wanted it to die. But it didn’t. Although once the rain did stop, it did have water or moisture on the lens so a few pictures along Miles 12 didn’t come out very well. There were signs all over indicating 1 mile left to Emerald City and had all the characters with virtues such as brains, heart, and courage.
Finish Line
I couldn’t keep up with the 2:30 group though. I stayed near the back of the group until nearly Mile 12.5, but then I lost them completely. I mean, I had gained a good 10 pounds or more in water weight. I felt heavy. Running in soaked clothing wasn’t something I had really expected. So I trudged on as best I could. I was hoping to set a new Personal Record, especially since I was feeling really good up until the storm, but at this point I just wanted to finish. It was really windy, I was soak and wet, it was getting a little cold even. However, as I neared the finish, I realized that the 2:35 group hadn’t passed me yet, so there was still hope. I also heard over the PA that the marathon leader hadn’t finished yet. I found this a little surprising. I guessed I figured he would have been ahead of me, passed me during that storm somewhere and I just wasn’t paying attention. As I made it around the last turn towards the finish, there was a huge crowd waiting and they started to erupt into a loud cheer. With nobody really in front of me, they were cheering for me, right? Haha, I wish I had put up my hands like “Thank you, thank you”. That would have been embarrassing for sure. Not even 50 yards from the finish, the marathon leader (Kory Cool) overtook me in a cheetah like sprint. Immediately, my thought was “Wow, I’m actually going to finish with the marathon winner”. What a humbling experience. It was really exciting seeing him cross that finish line having run twice the distance in the same amount of time as it took me to run 13 miles. Wow. You really have to respect those guys. After the finish, we congratulated each other. I do believe that will be the closest I’ll ever get to feeling like a winner, but it felt really awesome. I was overly excited for the both of us. He didn’t have time to be excited, but I just couldn’t believe that I was right there to witness the finish of what everybody was cheering for.
assortment of costumes
Post race was set up well. I think they ran out of the mylar blankets which really sucked on this day because of the freak thunderstorm. It wouldn’t’ have bothered me otherwise, but ultimately I left sooner than I was going to because it just got too cold for me. But they did have the most delicious blueberry yogurt that I’ve ever tasted. I had two, they were so good. I also had a grilled chicken sandwich provided by Tyson and an ice cold Michelob Ultra. Yep, i think this is my new favorite beer. I like it lite and I love it ice cold. Garmin had a tent set up showcasing their gadgets, general items for those not already familiar with Garmin and newer items for those who were. There was also a massage tent set up nearby.
I stuck around a few more minutes, cheered a few people crossing the finish line and then decided that I had to warm up, so I went back to the car and changed clothes. Good thing I parked in that garage after all, even though the rain had stopped completely by the time we finished. I guess it wouldn’t have been a good run through Oz without the slightest chance of a tornado. Now I can say that I ran a half marathon in a thunderstorm in Kansas. Scratch that off my bucket list now (quickly adds that to the bucket list).
Post Race Dinner
I think I’ll be taking a break now. It’s almost summer time and I can’t imagine running 13 miles anywhere in the south from May through September. So I’m looking into Indiana, Missouri (St. Louis) and Oklahoma as options for later this fall. As with all of my previous planning, I’m sure that list will change completely by the next race. I think I’ve already been committed to do the Princess Run in Orlando next February for a friend’s birthday. I just don’t know it yet. Haha.
As for Olathe, this was a great race. After dealing with strange reactions from people in Missouri, I found Kansas people to be extremely friendly. I’d love to do this race again sometime in the future. Maybe I could dress up as a 6 foot tall munchkin also.
Cheers,
Race: Garmin Marathon in the Land of Oz, Wicked Fast Half
Date: April 26, 2014, 8AM
Place: Garmin Headquarters; Olathe, KS
Time: 2:34:20
March Update
Well, I figured it was about time to give a little update on the past three weeks since that freezing cold run in Little Rock.
As far as March goes, I ran in my first Komen Race for the Cure here in town and I just wanted to talk about it a bit. The showing of support for this race and breast cancer survivors in this city really is amazing. I had always heard about it, but this was my first time experiencing it. Congratulations Baton Rouge. I can’t even estimate how many people were there. The lines were huge at the starting line. If I had one small complaint about this race, it was the lack of organization between actual runners and walkers. At the start, as runners were dodging left and right, I was so afraid of seeing a little old lady be knocked over. But this race is about survivors, and people who are happy just to be able to walk again should be allowed to walk. So perhaps this race shouldn’t be timed. But then again, I’m sure they did it to attract more participants and raise more money.
The support was magnificent. WAFB is a huge sponsor and several top tv personalities along with Mayor-President Kip Holden were there doing pre race festivities. It was easy to get in and out, park, walk to everything, sign up the day of, get special recognition if you were a survivor (or are still battling the disease). It was just such a great experience. There was a little parade before the race honoring survivors and loved ones who succumbed to the disease.
I signed up day of the race as a timed runner but they didn’t have chip timers left when I walked up. So I kept up with my own time. The course was nearly perfect. It makes one big loop around LSU’s campus. We had a great view of the south stadium construction at the beginning. I wish I had taken my camera. The roads were always wide enough which was great since there must have easily been 5,000-10,000 people there. There was water around Mile 1 in front of the M&DA, School of Music, and then another on Sorority Row along the lakes. The cheering from the sororities was pretty amazing also. Always helps when you have college coeds cheering you on, right?
This race was actually my first real negative split race. I started off slow of course due to the walkers and I really didn’t want to rush anybody or hit anybody so I took my time. But after I got around them, which didn’t take that long, I moved up from a 9 min/mi steadily up to a 7:40 by the finish. Of course I felt it afterwards. But I wanted to run this race about as fast as I could, mainly because I really wanted a sub 30 minute time. Not sure if getting a chip would have made a difference but I ended up at 30:30 on my watch which definitely is my fastest 5K race, but it’s not my fastest 5K time. The first 5K of the 2014 Mambo was actually faster for me. But I still felt good about this race, if anything just because of the local support that it has. I’ll definitely be doing it again.
The following weekend, March 15, I was supposed to be doing the Cosmic Run, our first Rave style nighttime 5K. Seemed exciting when I signed up. I had no idea how poorly managed it would be. That race ended up being postponed until April, and now it may be postponed again until September, mainly because the idiots who are running it don’t know how to run it. They don’t know how to ask for permission for permits and road use prior to announcing it, and the don’t know how to plan around other events on the same day. Absolutely horrible. I’m still signed up for it because they already have my money. But if I was someone watching the news here or reading this blog and debating on doing it, I would advise them to not waste the money. There are way better events here, like maybe the Walking Dead zombie run here or the even better one in NOLA over the summer.
This past weekend, March 22, was the annual GYRIG Colon Cancer Run. This is the run that basically inspired me to start in the first place, so no matter what I have to do it. Even if I spend a late late night the night before in NOLA. Haha. I spent Friday night at the House of Blues listening to Johnny Clegg, a great South African singer and song writer. Great music about apartheid South Africa and living in unity. Only a few artists sound exactly the same from recorded music to live and he is one of them. It was great to see him in person. But man did his show start late, and of course it took a while getting back out and back home afterwards. I didn’t realize I was competing with Elton John traffic as well.
So I woke up anyway Saturday morning and headed out to Get Your Rear In Gear and picked up my stuff. I had already signed up online but failed to pick up my packet the days before at Fleet Feet. I hate picking up stuff at Fleet Feet, because mainly I have to do it on a Friday either around lunch or afternoon and the traffic around there especially at lunch is insane. You’ve never seen so many crazy parking jobs until you drive by there on a Friday lunch. I think there’s a Serops, Maxwells, and something else in that area and they are obviously all full for lunch.
The race ended up being similar to last years, part on-road, part off-road, basically a loop around the Pennington Biomedical Center campus. Support is huge for this race as well. They generally have about 500-600. This race was chip timed and I ended up finishing at 31:52 which was slower than the Komen race. But this race ended up being the first where I actually ran a steady pace throughout. I started and then sat on about a 10:15 pace for the entire time, which was inadvertently my goal to begin with. I went with the idea of trying to run more consistent but knowing that I’d have to run slower to accomplish that. Looks like it worked. I’ve now run two 5Ks in a row without stopping (minus a few seconds handling water at a water stop). Now I’m hoping I can build that up to running 10Ks non-stop, although I already know that I can do it. I ran the first half of Philly and Little Rock non-stop. But I guess it’s just all psychological once you’re out there.
So now we’re getting towards the end of March and to end the month I’ll probably do the MS run here on Saturday. I also went ahead just now and scheduled my next half marathon in the great state of Kansas. Don’t ask why. But I’ll tell you anyway. 🙂
Originally I was debating on doing a doubleheader race trip, run a race in one state on Saturday and another next door on Sunday. I had settled on Kansas and Oklahoma. After Little Rock, I decided that perhaps I wasn’t quite ready to attempt a doubleheader so close to each other like that. So I’ve backed out of Oklahoma for now and settling with Kansas because I love the idea of this race. The Garmin Land of Oz. Sounds awesome. It’s definitely Dorothy themed. It’s also on a Saturday which means I can make it back home on Sunday and not waste another day off from work. It’s also slightly cheaper than Oklahoma. So why not? That race will come up in about four weeks.
I’ve also committed with a friend to doing the local Bridge Series runs. This is where we run three races over three bridges over the Mississippi River: Luling, Jefferson and NOLA. These aren’t your normal bridges. These are high long bridges over the river. But if you complete all three within the course limits, you get a cool medal. There are also prices for cumulative time accrued from crossing all three. So who knows; perhaps I can finish in the top three in my age division for crossing all three. We shall see. I imagine it will be a daunting challenge, but it should be fun. The first bridge is in about two weeks. Then the next two each follow about a month behind the previous. So it finished up in early June in New Orleans with the Crescent City Connection crossing. I’ll definitely take pictures.
I’m also looking forward to the Classic again, not because of fast times, but mainly because it looked like a blast last year and now I sort of want to compete as a straggler (walk 10K slightly buzzed or without cares at least). haha. Sure, I probably should be taking each run seriously, but if there’s any run where you can just party, this is the one. Plus I ran it last year. LOL. I’ll let you know how it goes.
#2 – Arkansas
STATE #2
Race Bib
So here we go, bringing in 2014 with the second state of the 50 state challenge. Arkansas. And if you were following along recently, you’ll remember that winter has been exceptionally unkind to the deep south this year. As I write this, Baton Rouge alone has experienced its fourth ice event this winter. Typically we don’t see four ice events in four years. Will this winter ever end???
That doesn’t matter though. I signed up for the Little Rock Half Marathon after missing the Mississippi and Louisiana events due to family illnesses. So with everything going just about as well as it could be going, I was determined to do this race. The preparation leading up to it was painless. I still didn’t run quite as much as I was wanting to run, but I felt good enough to do another 13 miles and cross off another state. And for the week before leading up to it, the weather looked as if it was going to hold out. Speaking of, one particular Arkansas meteorologist really messed it up. It wasn’t until I got up there the night before and watched another weathergirl on an actual tv station that I got a real forecast that I felt confident in, and it turned out that she nailed it. Kudos to her. The funny thing is that she works for the same station as the guy who I had been following who couldn’t make up his mind what it was going to do.
Greenville Bridge
Needless-to-say, leading up to the event, it appeared that the weather could be anything from sunny and warm to cold and icy (assuming that the event wasn’t canceled altogether). So in preparation, I ended up taking just about everything that I could think of just in case. This is much easier to do when you’re driving and not flying. The entire week leading up to the event, it had been in the 70s at home, well above normal (FINALLY!!!). It had been well into the 60s and low 70s in all of Mississippi and parts of Arkansas as well. It was even in the 80s and close to 90 in Texas. Here I am thinking that winter might actually be over early which would be great for everyone across the eastern US. But I was wrong.
LR Streetcar
I drove up to Little Rock via Vicksburg (where some family is) and then drove north and across the new bridge in Greenville. The bridge looks similar to the John James Audubon Bridge in New Roads. The temperature held into the 70s all the way up into Arkansas; although it was still in the low 60s in Little Rock. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The 5K runners had it made running on Saturday. Driving in downtown Little Rock on a Saturday afternoon proved to be a little more difficult than anticipated. The streets seemed narrow; too many two way streets. But I eventually made it to the expo event and was able to get my gear. The expo was set up well although slightly more crowded than in Philly, but the booths were well placed and stocked. The timing tag had to be activated (this is one that goes on your shoes, only my second time to use one of these) and worked flawlessly. After looking around the expo and downtown a bit, I headed on to the hotel mainly to just update on the weather and to rest for the night knowing what Sunday could bring.
Little Rock
Sure enough, Sunday morning, it had already started raining a bit. The temperature still felt comfortable but you could tell that the front had passed and that the winds were coming from the north. There was a 6am start for people who estimated that it would take them longer than 6 hours to finish the marathon or half marathon. From the looks of things, there were many runners in that 6am start. And that really made a difference I believe. Many people later complained about not just letting everybody start at 6am, but I know the logistics of doing that at the last minute just aren’t very feasible. I looked at the weather one last time and then decided to head on to downtown Little Rock before 6am that way I could get a parking spot in a garage (knowing that it would be raining seriously by noon). It turned out that at 5:45am, there was practically no traffic. The 6am people were already parked and lined up and the 8am people weren’t coming in yet, so I had the roads to myself and I had my choice of nearly any parking garage spot. So i picked my spot, watched the 6am runners take off from a vantage on top of the garage, and then debated nearly an hour on what exactly to wear or not to wear for this race. I kept debating on whether or not I would get too hot in certain gear, but finally i told myself that the forecast predicted near freezing conditions so I had to stop talking myself out of changing gear. Finally I decided on something and went on to the start.
I ended up weather two pairs of shorts with a climaproof wind and rain resistant pants on the exterior, then the compression shirt, dri-fit shirt and a nylon weather resistant jacket on the exterior with a baseball cap. I didn’t take the winter ski cap because I couldn’t imagine wearing both easily (without the cap falling off), and I decided that the baseball cap was more important due to the rain which would make the cotton ski cap worthless. The jacket also had a water resistant hood to go over the hat. I also didn’t have any water resistant gloves which nearly proved to be deadly (so-to-speak). I had basic socks also, but that ended up not being a huge deal.
Start
I met a young Shreveport lady who had spent a semester at LSU before finishing up at LaTech. We talked for a bit about what we were wearing and what we expected with regards to race conditions. We both pretty much had it in our minds that the temp would be dropping by a good 20 degrees during the race. We also talked about the Crescent City Classic since she had never done it before and was debating on trying it out, so I encouraged her telling her how much fun it really is.
The corrals were set up a little wierd for this race which had about a third of the participants that Philadelphia had. They seemed rather small. And then instead of letting everyone go in unison behind the front corrals, they stopped each group and waited a good three minutes before counting down to let them go. This didn’t seem necessary given the limited number of people in each corral, and some people got a little worried as it was taking over 30 minutes for our corral to start. This could have made a huge difference as well with regards to race conditions. Some people could have perhaps finished prior to the heavy rains. But as pointed out later on by other participants, this actually prevented the typical bottlenecks that was seen in previous year’s events, so I guess they did know what they were doing afterall.
After a short loop, we spent most of the next three miles in North Little Rock. Upon crossing the Arkansas River, it was obvious that the wind was picking up. I didn’t run bad times for the first half of the half. I started off in a jog and worked my way into a steady pace of around 10 minutes per mile. There was a decent crowd along the front few miles going into North Little Rock. There were supporters with offerings of sorts for racers whether it be more water, bananas, donuts or what you will. A guy (I wonder if it was the mayor of NLR) was standing along the bridge congratulating everyone as they went by and telling them that he couldn’t wait to see them back in his city again. I passed by all the water stops until after Mile 6. Then I started taking water. This was also the part where the weather really started becoming miserable.
Capitol
The next several miles, it became more and more miserable, like feeling knife stings across the skin as the winds continued to pick up and the temperature continued to drop. By this point, it may have already been in the 30s but I didn’t know it. I didn’t think it was, but someone else said they passed by a bank in NLR and saw the sign say 39. I didn’t see a sign until Mile 12 and it said 37. But I felt it well before then. By Mile 8, I was beginning to slow up considerably. Each time I stopped, I found it harder and harder to start back running. I could walk, and actually found it more enjoyable because I was able to keep my hands in my pockets then. By now, around 2 hours in, my hands were freezing. I seriously lost feeling in parts of my fingers. This became very miserable. I followed along with a pack I had grown accustomed to staying with who were beginning to walk much more as well. Right around Mile 12, where the marathoners would turn off to complete their course towards 26, we noticed that the police and coordinators had shut the course down, not letting marathons continue along the marathon course. They had to finish with the half marathoners. They kept saying “severe weather”, but I had no idea whether they meant lightning or ice. Turns out they meant lightning, but I never saw any lightning until well after I left town. But the rain did begin to come down even harder in that last mile.
Mile 12 Temp
In the last mile, I ran across a younger girl who was shivering from head to toe and looked like she could fall over at any moment. We talked for a little bit to offer words of encouragement. I told her that we had come this far, time to finish strong and then we could get back to a hotel, take hot showers and get under some warm covers. That seemed to spark her for a moment, but I eventually ended up ahead of her and hoped someone else would be there to talk her on in to the finish. I ran two more short times where I actually started feeling cramps towards the very end. I had never felt them before, so I attributed it to the weather and how cold it was actually beginning to feel but it could have just as easily been due to lack of water since I obviously didn’t drink enough and it was windy. By this point, I knew it was in the 30s and I knew that the wind chill had to be in the low 20s at best. I worked my way to the finishers chute where I muscled up nerve to run in to the finish where I overheard a runner propose to another (his finance I’m sure) over the sound system as I was crossing the finish line and that made me feel warmer. She did say YES, and I was able to clap and cross the finish line, happy that I had completed it in under 3 hours, and then hurriedly made my way through to get my medal, snacks, and water and eventually make my way back to my car so that I could get the hell out of dodge before the ice set in because the temperature was dropping a lot faster than I had thought it would.
This took some work as well. By now, the rain was really setting in and was falling more heavily. I didn’t care as much as I was already soaked, so the goal was to simply stay warm (by moving my hands inside my jacket) and walked gingerly all the way to the car which was about three blocks and then into the parking garage. Once there, I took nearly 30 minutes just to change most of my clothes, into something dry, and to somewhat warm my body up. I was shivering so much and felt so numb, I don’t think I could have driven if I wanted to. In the meantime, I was worried that it would begin to ice and that I wouldn’t even be able to get out of town.
Alas, I was able to eventually get out of town and as far south as I could as quick as I could. As cold as it was in Little Rock, I didn’t have much hope of getting into warmer climates. I was sure that the front had long passed towards the south, but I was wrong yet again. Sure, it stayed in the 30s all the way south through Arkansas until I got to Lake Village right across the river from Greenville. I stopped at a rest area. The temperature had risen to 50, but it didn’t feel that much warmer to me. It still felt pretty frigid. A short drive later across the MS River and the temperature jumped up to 66. I figured I was near the front but surely it wouldn’t get warmer and that the north winds were already blowing, but I was still wrong.
81F after a frigid race
Only a few miles later after I turned onto MS Highway 1 south, the temperature skyrocketed to 77, eventually topping out at 81. Well I be damned! At this, I had no choice but to cut off the heater, open the windows and let Mother Earth’s natural warmth keep me company for the final hour or so drive back to Vicksburg to spend the night. It stayed warm well into the night at Vicksburg. As a matter of fact, I changed back into shorts and tshirt. It was hard to believe that I had driven through a 47 degree temperature increase in barely three hours.
But then by the next morning, the front did eventually pass and the temperature dropped back down to 28, so in just a few more hours I had experienced a 53 degree temperature drop. So over the course of 24 hours, I had gone through a total temperature variation of exactly 100 degrees. Wow! Well no wonder I’m sick now!
Medal
So where to next? I have my hopes up for a few destinations, but I’d be lying if I said that this frigid run didn’t spook me just a bit. But then I expect my next half marathon to be much warmer since it’ll more likely be in late April or early May. In the meantime, I guess I need to go shopping for some warm weather gear, mainly for next winter. But then watch us have an abnormally warm winter next year.
Oh, the finisher medal for this race is famously huge, one of the biggest around. So it was cool to get one. Perhaps a little bit too big and heavy, but I’m proud of it none-the-less. I’m just glad that I was able to finish this race. I never felt like stopping completely, but a few extra cramps or an even stiff wind or heavy rain earlier in the race or some lightning and I may have been more than willing to quit. I’m glad I didn’t have to.
It would be easy to say that this race was an Epic failure in that many marathoners didn’t get to complete the entire course or finish with a marathon time, but I feel that the race directors did the best that they could given the circumstances. Should the race have been run in the first place? Hard to say. It wasn’t the worst conditions known to man, but it was the worst conditions known to many southerners, plus there was that threat of ice and even thunderstorms beforehand. So I guess in terms of safety, perhaps it could have been canceled. But then I wouldn’t have this amazing story to tell you. I think one thing is just about certain; the weather can’t be any worse for next years Little Rock Marathon. 🙂
Race: Little Rock EPIC Half Marathon
Date: March 2, 2014, 8AM
Place: Downtown – Little Rock, AR
Time: 2:50:44
500K Across the USA 