Angie's Half Crazy! Half Marathon

(Note: As of the end of 2008, the race director has yet to make good on recognizing my Clydesdale placing in this race. Perhaps she doesn't believe I'm over 200 pounds, and I should take it as a compliment.)

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A nice side effect of going through a marathon training schedule last winter is that I'm now fit enough to cover 13 miles on just about any random weekend. So after making the decision to register only ten days beforehand, I found myself behind the starting line of my fourth half marathon this morning.

C-r-r-razy!

I know this was a small event (500 participants), but I was stunned to learn that I had been seeded in the second corral of four, when I had predicted a sub-2:30 time during registration. I could have just about reached the starting mats from where I was by simply stumbling forward.

C-r-r-razy!

I don't know whether I was seduced by the flat course ahead or if it just felt like it was the right thing for a B-corral runner to do, but when the horn went off, I went out AGGRESSIVELY. My ForeRunner logged at least two mile splits under nine minutes in the first few miles. I now have some doubts as to the accuracy of the mile markers, but still, I know I went out fast -- too fast.

C-r-r-razy!

But I'm not sure I totally trust my ForeRunner either. It told me I hit the 6.2-mile point at 57 minutes, which would be more than two minutes faster than my 10K race PR from three weeks ago.

C-r-r-razy!

Sure enough, the fast start came back to bite me. By the time I reached the Saturn Lane turn at the NASA campus, I was feeling very out-of-gas, and my mile pace dropped all the way down into the elevens. I started being passed by what would end up being more runners than I could count. The Mile 12 marker was planted in front of a Sonic Jog-In, and it took a lot of willpower (and a lack of cash on my person) for me to pass it up. Just the idea of downing a foot-long coney on a race course...?

C-r-r-razy!

When I re-entered the college campus, I saw the Mile 13 marker, looked around and got confused when I didn't see the finish line nearby. A few minutes later, I finally did cross the timing mats and was greeted with volunteers with our finisher medals and ice-cold-and-wet towels. Then I heard the emcee announce that the course was about half a mile too long.

C-r-r-razy!

Since my Garmin ForeRunner 101 recorded my run at 2:13:51 with an overall average pace of 9:53/mile, a little arithmetic projects my 13.1-mile time as 2:09:28. This would have been a nice four-minute chop off of my five-month-old official half-marathon race PR from San Antonio. So that's not just one, but two PRs that are sadly unofficial.

C-r-r-razy!

During the awards ceremony, my ears perked up when the 3rd-place Clydesdale was announced with a time of 2:16. I didn't hear my name afterwards, however. So I brought it to the attention to the race director -- the "Angie" -- and she told me that she can get another award package for me. Race hardware, for me?

C-r-r-razy!

This was the inaugural running of an event that aims to raise scholarship funds for high-school students involved in cross-country. Worthy cause, no? Overall, I thought the event shows real promise to becoming a mid/late-spring highlight on the Houston-area running calendar. The course absolutely needs to be re-measured (and preferably certified), but it is virtually pancake-flat except for one small (really!) hill. And BBQ at the post-race area was a welcome sight. Beef brisket and pulled pork at 9:30 a.m.?

C-r-r-razy!