A Half-Marathon on Thanksgiving Day

Today was the Outback Distance Classic 1/2 Marathon. There were 3 races this morning. The half-marathon and a 6K which were to start together at 8:00, then split apart at mile one. And a one-mile "Joey" fun run at 8:05. Starting weather - 41 degrees, 71% humidity. Ending weather - 62 degrees, 42% humidity. Clear blue skies and brilliant sun throughout the race.


Jesse and me before the run.





Several people from my marathon training group arranged to meet up at 7:20 near the Port-a-Potties. Jesse was running with me; and we arrived at 7:16 and got in the Port-a-Potty line. It was a seriously bad situation. There were far too few potties for the thousands of people there this morning. We were in line for over 20 min; and the line stretched out forever behind us. Really bad planning.


Anyway, we met up with my friends and made our way over to the starting line. Jayne was nowhere to be seen. Just before the gun went off, we spotted Jayne through the crowd. She made her way over to join the rest of us. Patricia, pace group 8 leader, said that this run should be for fun, not time. I told her that I only had one time goal - to finish in under 3 hours. My official time at the Marine Corps half-marathon was 3:02:47.

Lauren: "I believe we could do this in 2:45."
Me: "You think so?"
Jayne: "Lauren, you are giving alcohol to an alcoholic here. Stop it before Linda pulls out her shot glass."

The Gun. We can't move. There are so many people crowded together, that forward motion is impossible. But, this race is chip timed, so we don't really care. Finally we cross the starting mats; and I start my Garmin. I notice we are almost 2 min behind the gun time.

The beginning of the race is the usual crowded mess of walkers and strollers who started out too far up front. We try to maneuver around them. And then, suddenly there is yelling coming from behind us. People are shouting, "get out of the way!" What? There is a group of bicycle riders out on a morning training run who made, let's assume, a logistical error and were riding right through the start of the race. They rode over the starting mats and were attempting to blast through over 2000 runners! Ridiculous.

Finally, we get to the mile one marker where the 6K runners turn right; and, we turn left. A collective sigh of relief as the crowd thins out. The 1st water table comes in view at 1.5 miles. During the Marine Corps half marathon, I became dehydrated. So, for this race, I was determined to grab a cup of water every water station on the route. And, I did here. There were also a few Port-a-potties here. Several in our group who did not stand in the long lines earlier, stopped. Jesse and I ran on.

Nearing mile 2, Jesse's knee started bothering him and he had to stop and stretch a little. I was worried that we may have to stop the race right there; but, he said he was fine and wanted to continue. Our group had fallen behind us a bit. I chose a pace of 13:30 for us; and we went on without them.

Somewhere between Miles 3 and 4


Nearing mile 4, we spotted a sign at the corner of a yard which read, "Run Linda! Go Jesse!" Then, I remembered we were passing by my work partner's house. He and his wife were out in their driveway. We stopped to say hello; and they gave us Gatorade and wished us well. Very nice!!!

Miles 5 through 9 were uneventful. Just 4 miles of cool running on a beautiful morning. At mile 10, I heard Jesse talking to himself. He was saying, "Stay loose, Jesse, stay loose." I asked if he was OK and if he needed to stop. He said he wanted to keep going. At mile 11, he said that his calves were cramping. We slowed down a bit for the next mile so he could loosen up a little. Mile 10

Then, all of a sudden we were passing the 13 mile marker and headed for the finish line! The clock had just turned to 2:59 as we got up close to the line. We kicked it a little just so that both our gun and chip times would be under 3 hours!!! WE DID IT!!!

After we got our finisher medals and some water, we went back to the finish line to cheer on the rest of our friends as they came in. Everyone fininshed smiling and uninjured! It was a great run, and a great start to the day!

Our stats this morning:


Mile ..................... Time
1 ......................... 13:55
2 ......................... 13:58
3 ......................... 12:59
4 ......................... 13:33
5 ......................... 13:12
6 ......................... 13:26
7 ......................... 13:12
8 ......................... 13:41
9 ......................... 13:29
10 ....................... 13:48
11 ....................... 13:36
12 ....................... 13:49
13 ....................... 13:31
0.13 ..................... 1:22

Total time(Garmin) . 2:57:38
Average pace ........ 13:28 min/mile

Official Time .......... 2:57:36