United States Air Force Half Marathon September 2008

I actually thought of doing the full version of this race for my Fall marathon this time, but it was too early. It turned out to be a great half marathon four weeks before the Columbus marathon, which I am planning to run. I was flying solo on this one, i.e. no road crew along with me. My daughter didn’t want to get up so early, and Morag didn’t want to leave her home alone with us so far away.

I woke up at five and did all the usual things. The race was set to start at 8:30, and I left around 6:15. I thought that this would be ample time to make it to Dayton, but there was a nasty accident on I-70 that delayed me for a while. Also, when I arrived at the race, we had to wait a LONG time to park. So, I parked at about 8:20, and I still had to change, catch the shuttle to the start and, um, visit the port-o-potty. Well, I was in the john when I heard the start of the race. No trouble, there were thousands of people running, so I knew it would not be a problem. I just had to dodge a bunch of slow pokes, well slower-than-me pokes, for the first few miles.

The first few miles were pretty hilly, and I had my Garmin on the wrong screen, so I was a little off pace. I quickly made up the time, though. Other than the airplanes, the course wasn’t that great. It even went on a divided highway for a bit, which was bizarre. I was worried that there were going to be a lot of military retards, but there weren’t too many. I mean, you always get the dumbasses yelling “thank you for your service, sir” to the pigs and stuff like that, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. The stations were good; they even had sponges, which I had never experienced before. I liked them.

The finish was great. The runners ran down the final stretch through several old airplanes lined up on either side. Incredible.
Plane Along the Finish

I was very happy with the way I ran. I was able to keep form pretty well. I ran the hills well: remaining patient on the ascents and letting gravity pull me like crazy on the descents, just allowing myself to skip off my legs. I still don’t understand why some people speed up on the ascents and slow down on the descents. It doesn’t make any sense. Several times, someone would pass me going up a hill, and then I would pass them right at the top.

After they race, they had some old military farts (generals or something) shaking hands and giving out medals. There was free pizza, but for the beer you had to pay $2. Well, I didn’t have $2, so I pathetically walked up to the beer counter and asked if they took cards. “No.” I walked away when I felt this tug. “Do you want a beer?” asked a lady who worked at the beer counter. She hooked me up with a free beer. It was awesome.

Here are the splits according to my GPS device, which differed from my chip time a little (and not in my favor).

Mile 1: 7:44
Mile 2: 7:55
Mile 3: 6:54
Mile 4: 7:48
Mile 5: 7:46
Mile 6: 7:48
Mile 7: 7:21
Mile 8: 7:41
Mile 9: 7:40
Mile 10: 7:36
Mile 11: 7:35
Mile 12: 7:17
Mile 13: 7:33
Mile 13.1: 0:41

Total time: 1:40:10
Pace: 7:39 min/mi

Results
Overall: 150/2,496
Age Group Men 30-34: The AG results are messed up. I will post this when/if it becomes available.

I am thrilled. My goal was to run 1:40, and I did! This gives me great confidence for the Columbus marathon coming up on October 19, 2008.

37 photos | 83 views

items are from 20 Sep 2008.