River Run Half - New PR!!

River Run Half Marathon Race Report:

It was a beautiful day for running :) About 60F degrees at the start, rising up to around 70F, and sunny. The River Run course is point-to-point and definitely fast. I would estimate that 80% is downhill. There are only a couple of mild inclines in the start and another one before mile 10. I felt I was running downhill most of the way. It is also well-shaded so I could not have asked for better running conditions.

<--- Happy with a new Half PR

This is the 4th time I am running the race and the 1st half for my wife. My best time in previous years in this course was 1:37:42 and my 1/2 Marathon PR from last year was 1:32:50 (Buckeye Half). My ultimate goal was a new PR.

I started a bit in the back and it took me 15.5 seconds to cross the line. This will prove significant in the end because my friend Jen passed me and finished ahead of me but in the final results I am ahead by 0.25 seconds!!

My Garmin GPS watch was running a bit behind the official mile markers so I did not pay much attention to my mile splits and just ran as I felt. Indications were that I was running 7 min/miles and this was good for me.

The miles rolled quickly and uneventfully. Around mile 10 I was following a group of runners who I was using for pacing. Then at mile 11 I hear someone approaching from the back. I look and it is Jen!!! She looked strong! She passes me for a while, then I pass her back, thinking that's the end of it.

While we are approaching mile 13, the runners in the front turn left and stop! Apparently, they were not registered for the race (darn bandits!) Without my pacers I am losing ground and here comes Jen again, passing me. Despite my usual finish line kick, Jen finishes ahead, but in the final chip time results I am listed ahead by a fraction of a second!



<--- Liz finishes her first Half!

My final official time: 1:31:15 (pace: 6:58) - New PR!!! (by 1 1/2 minutes)

My overall placement is 55/830 and my age group placement is 4/42. I continue to be plagued by the 4th place curse!!!

My mile splits according to my Garmin: 6:48, 6:56, 6:54, 6:50, 6:57, 6:51, 6:53, 6:53, 6:57, 7:01, 7:02, 6:52, 6:53, (last 0.1, 0.24 according to Garmin) 6:18.

If you discard the first mile and the last 0.1 mile (0.25), there are only 11 seconds difference between the fastest and slowest mile. I don't think I have ever run a more even pace in a race!

My wife's training plan was predicting under 2 hours for her first 1/2. I was predicting between 2:05 and 2:10. She started well, but slowed a lot the last 3 miles. Her final time was 2:07:44, a PR of course!!

Overall, I am very pleased that I managed to maintain a 7 min/mile pace for the entire 13.1 miles.

Next race (for me): Akron Marathon! I plan to run it slowly, using it as a training run for Athens/Greece, aiming at 3:40