This is a repeat race for me and my third trip to the City of Brotherly Love to run a half marathon and it didn’t disappoint. After clearing up my travel issues earlier in the week I flew out early Saturday, stopped at the expo and then to the Farmer’s Market for some lunch and an Amish pretzel or two (love those things!!).
The great thing about this race is the early 7am start. It was in the mid 20’s and the mile walk from the hotel to the start was very brisk!! The race started just a bit late due to the wheelchair athletes balking at the marathon distance just before the race but after about 10 minutes, we were off.
The fun thing about the course is there is quite a bit to see. Practically the entire course runs around downtown so there are plenty of things to see. I got off to a slow start due to the 18,000 runners on the course and really couldn’t get comfortable through the first 5k. I saw my buddy Dan pacing the 3:40 marathon group right before the 3 mile mark. We talked for about 15 seconds and he and the rest of the group he was pacing scooted by me. By 10k I really hadn’t begun to feel that much better but I was trying to be consistent. I surprised Jim Miller when he passed me at that point of the race (he’s way faster than I) but I’m guessing he started way behind me! Right at 15k there is a decently sized hill. I temporarily lost focus and walked up quite a bit of it. Fortunately there was a water stop shortly thereafter and I was able to regroup a little. I was definitely off my pace of the first 9 miles by then but a few rather steep descents helped make up a little. I ran out of gas just past 12 miles so I limped it in. Fortunately I was some 30 seconds faster than my time in Indy so I wasn’t all that disappointed. I realized though, my pre race food the day before probably caused me some time. Damn soft pretzels….haha!!
The great thing about this race is the early 7am start. It was in the mid 20’s and the mile walk from the hotel to the start was very brisk!! The race started just a bit late due to the wheelchair athletes balking at the marathon distance just before the race but after about 10 minutes, we were off.
The fun thing about the course is there is quite a bit to see. Practically the entire course runs around downtown so there are plenty of things to see. I got off to a slow start due to the 18,000 runners on the course and really couldn’t get comfortable through the first 5k. I saw my buddy Dan pacing the 3:40 marathon group right before the 3 mile mark. We talked for about 15 seconds and he and the rest of the group he was pacing scooted by me. By 10k I really hadn’t begun to feel that much better but I was trying to be consistent. I surprised Jim Miller when he passed me at that point of the race (he’s way faster than I) but I’m guessing he started way behind me! Right at 15k there is a decently sized hill. I temporarily lost focus and walked up quite a bit of it. Fortunately there was a water stop shortly thereafter and I was able to regroup a little. I was definitely off my pace of the first 9 miles by then but a few rather steep descents helped make up a little. I ran out of gas just past 12 miles so I limped it in. Fortunately I was some 30 seconds faster than my time in Indy so I wasn’t all that disappointed. I realized though, my pre race food the day before probably caused me some time. Damn soft pretzels….haha!!
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