Surftown Half Marathon Recap

My day started at 4am with a quick cup of coffee. I gathered all my stuff and I was out the door by 4:30 on my hour and a half drive to Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, RI. Race didn't start until 7:30, but I still needed to pick up my race packet.  

It was cold out this morning!! It had to be in the upper 40s, low 50s and windy. Luckily, I had a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie in my car. Not that I was prepared. I just happen to have them in my car from the week before and never brought them back in to the house. Good thing!!. 

After the sun came out and a couple of warm up runs on the beach, I was warm enough to just have my short sleeve on.

The race actually started about 7:45 as they waited for the few people still in line at the porta-jons. While waiting for the start, I realized that I forgot my Garmin at home,,... DOH! that sucked. Then I realized that I left my Clean Bottle and in my car! DOH - again! Luckily there were enough water stations along the course. The course was a very scenic course. You ran parallel with the ocean for a couple of miles throughout the race. The rest of the time you are running through the streets of this beautiful ocean side town. 

Miles 3-7, I paced a guy from the RI Road Runners club. Me and him kept going back and forth passing each other throughout these miles. Eventually he stops at a water stop to grab a drink. I was wishing he didn't. Running with him made those miles fly by. Mile 8 I slowed down a bit, but by mile 9 I got a second wind and I started catch up and pass the few people in front of me. Mile 11 I caught up with a guy with Mendon track T-shirt. I ended up passing him by mile 12, but I can see from the corner of my eye, that he was right behind me. He caught up and was running right beside me. As we made the last turn we could see the finish line about 1/4 of a mile ahead of us. He started to slow down, but I waived him on to keep up. And he did!! He flew by me. The finish line was just a couple of yards ahead. Then I saw him waive me on to catch up. I gave it my all and just barely crossed the finish line ahead of him. What an awesome feeling that was!!! As we grabbed our waters at the finish line I went over and thanked him. He was like "Thank you, that was awesome!!"

Bill from Impossible is Nothing was also running the race so I watched for him to cross the finish line.

There he is, in the back, coming in strong! Killing it!!!!

Blog worlds collide!! 

We had asked a lady that was standing nearby to take our picture. Then she wanted to jump in as well.

.....Sure why not!!

Bill is a cool, down to earth guy. We talked about running and training as we walked get some snacks and check out the race results. It's always good to talk with someone that shares the same passion. I am glad we had the opportunity to meet. Living in the same state, I'm sure we'll run into each other again.

I didn't notice my time when I crossed the finish line. I was too busy trying to pass the guy in the Mendon track t-shirt. I was guessing 1:35 or so. They had computers set up that you just entered your bib# and it gave you your place and time:

1:36:25 - 6th in my age group - a new Half PR!!!!!!! Woot!

Awesome bling!!!

This was a good race for me. Not because I PR'd. It was good because I felt good all the way through. I didn't really struggle at any point during the race. I felt strong from start to finish. This was my 4th half and this is the first time I could say that. So this was a good change for once. I'll take it!!!

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Have a great week everyone!