Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Halloween Half Marathon 2011

Joined the masses in the University Mall parking lot in the dark. Thankfully they had some people there with the bibs that weren’t picked up yesterday. Officially running the Halloween Half Marathon today. Waited over an hour freezing our buns off for a bus to take us to Aspen Grove up Sundance Canyon. No lines at the port-a-potties so I made a quick stop there before we entered the heated tent. Packed to the gills with costumed bodies.



We squeezed our way in and found a small patch of grass to chill for the next hour and a bit. Chatted with runners around us. Most people had gotten past yesterday’s confusion and were ready to race. Stripped layers, sticking with shorts, long sleeve tech T and beanie. Made another pee stop in the woods, as the lines for the toilets now were outrageously long.


Race started on time in two waves. Chris and I were in the 9:00 am wave. We got close to the front to avoid the slower runners in the narrow start chute.


The Aspen Loop road is incredibly steep. I did my best to mitigate the impact on my knees while taking advantage of the downhill pace. I still got passed by the 1:30 pacer before reaching Provo Canyon though. Chris stuck with them and passed me too.


Mile 1 6:26
Mile 2 6:47
Mile 3 6:49
Mile 4 6:43
Mile 5 7:06

Being chased by a pirate


Almost immediately after the race started I realized I should have taken a second trip to the port-a-john. I fought the urge to stop until about mile 6. Lost about 3 minutes there. Curses! Never saw the 1:30 pace flag again. Felt much better after that though.


Ran hard the rest of the race, finishing at a park just outside the mouth of the canyon. Didn’t spot Chris, so I hopped in the massage line. Not the greatest massage, but any massage is better than no massage in my book.


Mile 6 10:03 (pit stop)
Mile 7 7:17
Mile 8 7:24
Mile 9 7:23
Mile 10 7:17
Mile 11 7:23
Mile 12 7:18
Mile 13 7:11
.12 Miles 6:30

I finished in 1:35:52, 172nd overall, 16th in my age group. 7:20 pace. Not great, but not terrible. Burned 1444 calories. Ate a mini Lara bar and a gel during the run. Looks like there were about 3300 finishers.

Medal

3 comments:

Amy said...

Great running posts to catch up on. Love the running pics in this one, the shaved head isn't a bad look for you.

Samantha said...

That picture of the pirate chasing you is hilarious. I think the shaved head looks good too.

C Bartholomew said...

The pirate is just precious.