Williams Rt 66 Half Marathon: Race Report

Up to this point in time, my fastest half marathon was the first one I ever ran.  The Glass City Half Marthon in 2009 at 2:49.  A 2010 go 'round with the Rt 66 half was disappointing.  Story of that here.   All of the others...have qualifiers....two were on trails so they can't compare...and the other road half I completed was when I doubled at Post Oak in 2011, running 25k on trails one day and 13.1 on roads the next.   Everything looked good for a personal best this year.

I took the training runs pretty seriously- even the 'fluff' weekday runs. I ran three miles, three days a week and long runs with my training group on Saturday mornings. In the past 10 months I also worked hard to loose some weight. Taking off 12 pounds really helped me speed up and I consistently ran 11-12 minute miles. (Which is fast for me!)

Race day weather forecast was discouraging. The forecast was flirting with a chance of precipitation and a high of freezing. When race day arrived, it was very cold but no snow or sleet. I dressed with two layers, gloves and fleece headband. Walter dropped me off downtown and I made my way into the crowd to find my starting corral. I ran into friends and we chatted as we endured the coldest part of the day- waiting to run! It took about 20 minutes for us to cross the start line.

I ran hard most of the race. I passed friends and the signs along the route really kept me entertained. My favorite said: Getting out of bed to cheer for you wasn't easy either!

The bandit aid stations cracked me up! There was one guy playing his bongo drums and singing his heart out, several with bottles of booze and a friend was very organized with beer and jello shots. (Yay Smackalonian!)

I kept running hard. Rt 66 is a very hilly course. I didn't see Walter or anyone else I knew as a I crossed the finish line. The hot spaghetti and meat sauce was really good and I found Walter looking for me right outside the food tent.

When my official time came through at 2:30:51, I was super happy. It was a good day and a great race.  I ate a second spaghetti and meatball meal that afternoon, soaked in a hot tub and iced my knees much later than I should have.  Good times.