Did not go as I had hoped.
Let's start with the so-called "Expo" the evening before. The "Expo" was not in a hotel conference room. It was in a hotel lobby - the Red Roof Inn lobby. There was just enough room to have some info, bibs, and shirts laid out for the "organizers". No runners were in line ahead of me, but two came in right behind me. And it was crowded! I gave them my last name. My shirt, timing chip, bib number, and a few papers were put in a "garbage bag" - not even a nice, sturdy garbage bag. It was a small, cheap garbage bag that hotels use. I guess someone forgot to get bags and had to beg some from the Red Roof Inn. Also in the bag were two garbage bag ties to attach the timing chip to my shoe! No zip ties? I was almost embarrassed to use them!
The next Clarksville Half Marathon will be held in March 2012. The organizers have to be wanting a change. The race has gone down hill every year. The first year had 884 finishers. I thought year 2 would bring more people and maybe even reach 1,000 runners. No, there were 493 finishers. Even before runners knew this year's swag bag would be more like a gag bag, they opted out. Only 183 finished this year.
Race Day: I awoke about an hour before the alarm went off. Pain was shooting up both of my calves. Worried about this, I finally went back to sleep. I never had anymore problems with my legs (until I was actually running, of course). I got there in plenty of time to pee this year. However, after standing close to the start for awhile, I had to hit the bushes. Then the race was on...
I started out fast. I had to if I was to be under an 8:00 (at least under an 8:08) pace for the whole race. After the first 2 miles, I was around where I wanted to be - Mile 1 8:07, 2 8:02. Then Mile 3 was 8:20. Okay, Mile 3 is usually my slow mile. I have some seconds I will have to make up. I was back on track for Mile 4 at 8:06. That was that. My dreams/hopes/plans ended there. Miles 5 thru 10 - 8:31, 8:16, 8:09, 8:56, 8:31, and 9:21. My pace had slipped to 8:25. Then it got worse. Mile 11 was 9:56! Mile 12 was 10:03!! As I approached the finish line, I tried to look like I was able to still run strong. The last 1.1 miles were in 8:32. My total time was 1:52:48, for a pace of 8:37.
This was my 4th half marathon and the first time I didn't set a new PR. I knew it had to end one day, but I did not think it would be today. It was my second best time, though. If I had achieved my goal pace, I would have finished 3rd in my age group, instead of 5th out of 12. (John Beard won our age group in 1:38:50 (7:33 pace)). Shane was 12th of 21 in his age group at 2:06:19 (9:38 pace) and 89th overall. He said that was 5 minutes faster than last year. Five minutes is a long time when you are running! I was 46th of 183 finishers.
I did not enjoy the race this year. There were no little cheering sections as in the past. A few people were here and there, but were just there for their family/friends. No music, except at the finish line. It was just a lonely race, and not just in certain stretches, but the whole race. Once I knew I wouldn't reach my goal, it seemed to get even lonelier.
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