On Sunday, I ran the Philadelphia Distance Run Half Marathon. It was once again a beautiful day. The bands were great, the crowds were encouraging and my number one fan (my husband Dave) was there with me. What more could a girl ask for?
We left the house at 6:15 and found a FREE parking spot right on 26th Street. Minutes from the start corrals. We waited at the Rocky Statue to meet with other Phillyfit members. A good number showed up there and we talked, stretched and waited. Finally, a group broke away to hit the port-a-potties and the rest of us headed over the to corrals.
My corral number was 14 based on my predicted finish time. When I signed up for the race my goals were different and I was coming off the high of the Broad Street Run. Today I was more realistically shooting to finish and to do so in less than 2 hours and 30 minutes would be a good day. The race started officially at 7:45 but the wave start (each corral goes out 1 to 1.5 minutes after the one in front) put me across the start line at 8:09. While waiting I chatted with another Phillyfit member, Cheryl from Spring City. She was running her first half marathon. As we inched forward we passed the 13 mile marker. I pointed out that when we passed that spot again we would be almost done! As we inched closer still.. but not yet at the start line... Ryan Hall, the winner of the race, was already coming back out of the city finishing almost 5 miles of the race. By the time I would eventually get to the 5 mile mark he would be finished. Of course this means nothing really. Unless you are an elite runner you are only competing with yourself anyway but I just think it's interesting and puts things in perspective. I think it's cool to be running the same route as elite runners. On the women's side, Catherine Ndereba and Constantina Dita the silver and gold medalists respectively in the Bejing Olympic Marathon ran. Catherine "The Great" Ndereba lives and trains in this area and runs the race often. Constantina Dita from Romania ran it for the first time. Catherine won the women's race.
Dave enjoyed the music of the Randy Lippincott band which was stationed at spot that we paced twice; once going into the city and again coming out. He took lots of great pictures there, at our meeting place at Rocky and after the race where many of us met again post race. He carried the back pack with extra clothes and stuff for me that I never used. Sorry about that!
My finish time was 2 hours, 28 minutes and 6 seconds so I did accomlish my goals; have fun, finish and finish in less than 2 hours, 30 minutes. I do wish I could have been better at my pacing from beginning to end. That is something I must work on.
It was a gorgeous day. Here are some of the things I remember:
- A sign that read "Louise your butt looks fantastic"
- A woman in a TuTu running for her 30th birthday (it said so on the back of her shirt). Many people sang and clapped for her.
- The line of little kids near mile 12 who high fived (or low fived since they were shorter than even me) each runner that went by.
-Note to self: hold your breath running past a port a potty when someone is entering or leaving one
- Running the Art Museum steps a la Rocky after the run. It was not as hard as we thought it would be.
- Meeting up with many Philly fit friends after the race. Hearing about the experiences of those running their first half marathon
- The runners with numbers starting with 2 through 5 who probably finished at least an hour if not more before standing along the last mile cheering the rest of us on. That's cool!
- The man (a spectator) about mile 11 shouting out to us "You Inspire and I admire"
-Having the energy to sprint to the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment