First Half Race report

I participated in the Bear Chase half marathon on Saturday in Groveton.  It was nice that it was in Groveton because my mother-in-law leaves just 20 minutes away and we were able to stay with her on Friday night.

I got to the stadium where we were starting the race at about 6:15.  We were scheduled to start at 7:00.  It was pretty cold, about 49 degrees and the wind was blowing straight out of the north.  I knew the temperature wouldn’t be a problem during the race but the 45 minutes of waiting it was pretty chilly.

The couple that were our race directors have run tons of marathons.  When I say tons I mean tons.  The husband has run over 500 and the wife more than 200.  They did an excellent job of taking care of everybody at the course.  I felt like I was important to them as well of as all the volunteers and spectators.

We started exactly at 7:00A and I started midway back, because there were some elite runners and I certainly didn’t want to get in there way.  We went by the town cemetery on the way out.  I thought that was interesting.  The first part of the race was over a city road that was half paved and half gravel.  It was kind of tough on the feet and ankles.  The bulk of the race was on a two lane highway that had one lane blocked off.  The county sheriff was escorting the few cars that needed to come through.  I felt very safe the whole way.  The rest areas were manned by several groups, my favorite was the stand with the boy scouts handing out the power ade. 

At about the 7 mile mark the elite runners were on their way back.  They set a formable pace, but I wasn’t worried about that.  I knew what I wanted to run and wasn’t going to be swayed by what other people did.  There were very few spectators as we were out in the country, but the runners motivated each other.  I really enjoyed that part of it and made sure I gave as much encouragement as I got.  A mile or so from the turn around, we ran in to the national forest on a sand road.  It was pretty neat.

I picked up the pace around the eleven mile mark.  I had a chance to finish under 2.5 hours.  When I entered the stadium parking lot I saw my wife and boys waiting on me.  That really motivated me.  I was the only one on the track and as I finished the final turn, I saw that I could finish below my goal time.  I finished in 2:29.39.  I was very proud and they gave me a medallion and little bear with my finish number on it. “85"  I would have cared if it was 1085.

It was a great experience and after some down time, I will now I have to get ready for the White Rock Marathon in December.

Congrats on your first half-marathon Hawgman!   Great race report and best of luck on your marathon journey in December!

Train safe!

Chad

Congratulations on a job well done!  Thanks for sharing the report & can't wait for the next one.