Emily set the alarm clock for 5am and I set my iPhone for 5:30. Emily wanted to get up earlier so that she would be ready for a 6am departure from the hotel. Surprisingly, Emily's alarm clock did not go off as planned. I could not help but think back to the Seinfeld episode again. Emily was bit by the AM/PM! Luckily my iPhone alarm was the backup and worked as planned and we got up at 5:30 and made our 6am target for leaving the hotel. We stopped at McDonald's for a egg biscuit breakfast and then headed downtown.
We found parking close to the race start line and were in place by 6:45. We were able to watch the 8K Race start at 7am. We had a couple of friends running in the race and I was shocked to see one of them trot by in the flood of people as he started out on his run. When the 8k runners were gone, I finished up my stretching and headed out for a short little jog to loosen up. My warm up run was probably to short, but I was anxious to get into my runner corral. In the runner corral, I continue to stretch, tried to relax and did a lot of people watching passed the time before the start.
The weather at the start of the race was ok. Most of the rain from the last 3 days had moved out of Richmond over night, but the 10mins before the race there was steady mist falling. The temp was in the mid to high 50's, and I decided to wear running shorts, bright yellow long sleeve running shirt and my new gloves. It was perfect for the conditions.
The race started right at 7:30, but it took a while for my runners corral to migrate to the start line. I was in a group of runners who's target to complete was ~2hr:15mins so we were in the back of the line. The group moved to the start line in a slow jog, but speed up quickly after hitting the starting gate. I was able to see Emily cheer me on as I started out and had Eye Of the Tiger playing on the iphone. I crossed the start line and pressed the RunKeeper start button on my iPhone so that I could track my progress.
The first few miles went through like a flash. I was trying not to start to fast but was mixed in with a group of runners that were keeping a comfortable pace. I was surprised to hear my splits being called out with average pace of low 9min miles. I stayed with a pack of runners keeping this pace and locked in on a women wearing a bright green shirt with the message "Go Amber!" on the back. I continue to pace her through the first 4 miles until she decided to take a pit stop at the course side port-o-johns. When I got along side Amber I was shocked to see that she was 6months pregnant! After leaving Amber behind, I worked to keep on my ~9min/mile pace alone.
The crowds on the course grew the deeper we got into the race. As I entered Bryan Park I was excited to hear my name getting cheered. I looked up and saw my buddy Walt cheering me on which was a great pickup for mile 6. I continue to push on and saw Walt and his daughter Alex as I exited Bryan Park at ~7.5miles. I am not sure why but mile 8 was the toughest mile of the race. I was a bit shocked to see Amber pass me, which made me push through and get my pace back on track in mile 9. After I got through mile 10 I started feeling good about my finish.
The closer I got to the finish line the crowds really picked up. Even the homeless were out cheering us on. I got a fist bump from one around mile 11. I continued to push hard to get to the finish the excitement of the finish brought another push of adrenaline to let me forget how tired my legs were. I can't really remember mile 12, but once I saw Mile 13 I started to run with everything I had. The last part of the race is all downhill and I was in an all out sprint as I closed in on the finish line. I was passing people and heard the crowd cheering with comments like "Nice Kick!", "Go Runner!" and "It is all downhill to the finish!" I was surprised on how much the crowd help push you to the finish. I crossed the finish line in a full sprint and looked up at the time clock to see my finish time. I was amazed to see 1:57:55 as my finish time. My finish time was 17mins faster than I hoped to finish my 1st 1/2 Marathon.
Once I finished the race I grabbed some food and started looking for Emily. She txt'd me and we met up a couple blocks from the finish line. I was excited to see Emily, Ella and Emily's parents after the race.
After finishing this race I was surprised how good I felt. My training program prepared me physically and mentally very well for this race. The support of my friends and family is what really helped me train and run this race. I am not sure what to say to you all, so I will end with Thank You!
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