Why was I so happy at 5:30 in the morning? The day I’d been waiting for since April was finally here, that’s why!
And I’d just checked the temperature for the 7 AM race start, and it couldn’t have been more perfect!
Everyone in our group had snagged Lot A parking passes (the lot closest to the race start), so we thought it would be easy to find each other. Problem was, there were a lot of runners and it was still dark when we got there! Thanks to texting we all found each other. Julie and Cassy were the first ones we met up with, and then I found my blogger friend Meagan (this was the second race we’ve run together) and her husband Barry in the porta-potty line . How appropriate; but why-oh-why didn’t I think to get a picture of us with a porta-potty backdrop?
I snapped a picture of the sunrise about a mile into the race…
And Meagan and Julie got to see my version of what I call, “long run fartleks.” I sprint ahead so I can turn around and take pictures of my friends running, or I stop to take a picture and then sprint to catch up with the group.
We ran past my favorite place to hang out on fall Saturday afternoons (Lane Stadium in the distance)…
I stopped to take a quick picture of these tiny cones. They absolutely cracked me up, but they did what they were there for and signaled to us that there was two-way runner traffic for about half a mile…
Bill, Julie, Meagan, and I ran together for about eight miles (Barry was way ahead of us), and I kind-of-sort-of thought we’d all run together the whole time, but we agreed in advance that we’d each run our own race. It was a beautiful day and I just wanted to enjoy the day and the company; however, my legs felt differently! Just after mile marker eight and a porta-potty stop, we started a downhill section and I just let my legs do their thing. I glided down the hill easily, and when I got to the following uphill I kept up the pace and surprised myself by feeling great. Bill picked up on my urge to pick up the pace and moved along side of me and we were off.
Bill and I finished pretty close together and saw Barry cheering us in as we crossed the finish line (Bill was about 15 seconds in front of me). We collected our finisher’s swag and walked back with Barry to watch for Meagan and Julie.
Pretty soon we saw Julie approaching the finish line. It was very exciting since she had been fighting an Achilles injury and hadn’t been able to train for several weeks during late August and early September. She finished looking great and with no pain!
Next we saw Meagan coming in, who after the race and “victory lap,” would be running her longest run to date! Meagan will be running her first marathon in November, and she was pretty much treating this race as her weekend long run.
As soon as we crossed the finish line we got our Hokie Bird medal… And then a finisher’s shirt… And then a magnet for our cars! All of this finisher swag kind of makes up for the wrong sized race shirts!
Meagan and I posed for a quick picture before we did our “victory lap.” I’ll explain that shortly…
We got a group picture with everyone but Barry (he took he picture) and Hokie Bird. Hokie Bird was there, but we didn’t see him… 🙁
Meagan was scheduled to run 14 miles for her long run this weekend and decided to either run it before the race or tack it on the end of the race. Barry and I took off with her after pictures, etc. and we called it our “victory lap…”
After we all got back to our cars, we realized that we had forgotten to go through the food tent! It was well stocked with Gatorade, water, sodas, apples, oranges, bananas, bagels, candy bars, crackers, and both turkey and veggie chili!
From my Run Keeper:
Finish time – 2:06:45, with an overall pace of 9:38
Split times:
Mile 0 to 1 – 9:51
Mile 1 to 2 – 9:30
Mile 2 to 3 – 9:45
Mile 3 to 4 – 9:59
Mile 4 to 5 – 10:06
Mile 5 to 6 – 9:55
Mile 6 to 7 – 10:36
Mile 7 to 8 – 10:43 (porta-potty stop)
Mile 8 to 9 – 9:40
Mile 9 to 10 – 9:15
Mile 10 to 11 – 8:53
Mile 11 to 12 – 8:46
Mile 12 to 13 – 8:34
Mile 13 to 13.1 – 7:24
Here’s what the course elevation looked like…
They had the age group prizes lined up at the food tent… And I just found out that I won my age group! Someday I’m actually going to get my age group prize at the race, and not have to chase it down later!
Overall I’d give the Inaugural Hokie Half Marathon an A, and Bill and I definitely plan to run it again next year! The only reason I didn’t give it an A+ was the sizing of the race shirts, but the finishers’ shirts almost made up for that! 🙂
- Questions:
- Have you ever shown up for a race dressed exactly like someone else?
- Have you ever added mileage to the beginning or end of a race?
- What’s the best post-race food you’ve had at a race?
Holy Negative Splits! You killed it, great job and how fun. Gotta say I’m really jealous of your fabulous weather and the tiny cones, I want one ;). It was 93 and humid here today…not so great for a race.
HaHa, thanks! I wanted one of those tiny cones, too. 🙂 They were bright orange, but the color didn’t show up right in my photo.
Glad you all had a great race! And especially glad that Julie didn’t mess up her Achilles Tendon – I was worried.
And now to answer your questions:
I don’t think I have ever been to a race dressed exactly like someone else although folks always do double takes when they see me and my twin!
I would never ever add mileage to a race!
My favorite post race food Is the beer at Rockville Twilighter – gotta love it!
I was thrilled that Julie’s Achilles felt fine, and she was able to start and finish the race. We had a great weekend! It’s always fun to be back in the ‘Burg! 🙂
Congratulations on a great race! You have to love when the legs show up on race day!
Bizarre that you two were wearing the same shorts and shirt!
I think the best post-race food was at Ironman Canada in 2012. My husband probably ate three pizzas to himself!
Thanks! My stomach usually isn’t in the mood for much more than a bagel after a race, but I felt great and had a bowl of veggie chili!
So glad you had a good race. You have been looking forward to it for so long. I love that you were dressed just like someone and tracked her down at the end! Awesome. I usually notice the other runners that have the same shoes as I do during a race, but never really clothes (unless it is past race shirts from races I have done and then I like to talk to them). Chili sounds like a fantastic post-race reward (if your stomach is feeling alright).
Thanks! I was amazed at how well my stomach did yesterday and that I felt like the chili afterward. It was delicious!
Yay! I was thinking about you and Meagan lots today. What a fine magnet and snazzy shirt! Great job today! So glad you powered through that hill. I’m also glad that the race lived up to everything you were dreaming of… I know you were looking forward to it!
This summer I had a 12-miler planned on the day of a 10K. I did 3 pre-race miles and 3 post-race miles.
Congratulations on a great race!
It was so nice to see Meagan and catch up with her! We had a great time! 🙂
I remember you that you did those extra miles before and after your race, and how well that worked out for you!
I DEFINITELY add miles when necessary. Sometimes (in Rochester, at least), I’d even run to/from a race. That makes it hard to skip the miles afterward, since walking home takes…a long time! [We call them “pre-miles” and “post-miles”.] Pre-miles are tricky in Singapore, though, since the races tend to start quite early.
I’m not usually into eating much right after a run, so finding something with carbs/protein that my brain and stomach agree to consume AND is in the post-race food tent is rather tricky. However, after the Perth marathon, they were serving Greek yogurt in the Finisher’s tent – THAT was definitely a good treat for me! [carbs + protein + cool-but-not-cold + my stomach said yes + my brain always says yes to Greek yogurt = SUCCESS.]
I’ve been known to run a 5K course or two in advance as a warm-up… 🙂
Normally after a race I don’t want anything to eat for a while, and when I’m ready to eat I want something like a banana. Yesterday the chili smelled amazing and I wanted some! It hit was delicious and hit the spot!
Really wish I had signed up for this instead now! But looks like you had some hills as well Those tiny cones crack me up. DIVA had cones and pink arrows, but it was still pretty confusing! Great job on your race and fartlecks!
Thanks! I enjoyed reading your recap of the DIVAS Half, and can’t believe that it started 90 minutes late. That’s awful! They had orange stick-on arrows on the road for our race whenever there was a right or left turn. I don’t remember seeing them at a race before.
That looks like a great race! And some nice swag too.
I’ve never been dressed the exact same as someone else, but I found myself following my “shoe twin” yesterday during my race for a bit.
I haven’t had any races that had any different post-race food than most others (that I would eat anyway). At my race last weekend, they had chowder and hot dogs, but I don’t eat seafood and didn’t feel like a hot dog at 10:30am. LOL
As much as I enjoy a good hotdog at a ball park every once in a while, I don’t think I’d want one after a race any time of day! 🙂
Congrats on a great race! Sounds like you had a great time. Love all of the pics! And glad to see VT came through with the awesome post-race swag & awards. Love those finisher shirts! The weather for the trail race I did on Saturday morning was very similar and AMAZING! What a difference cool temps make!!
You have to try to run this race next year. You’d love it! And of course the weather couldn’t have been any better.
Congrats! Like I have said before we can totally be running buddies, we have the same pace! I have added mileage at the end of races before, mainly because the race was going to be a little short and I knew pretty quickly that it wasn’t going to be a full 5k. That is perfect weather for running!! Love all the pictures 🙂 My favorite post race food, isn’t anything special just fruit and coconut water. Usually I don’t feel like eating after a race 🙂
Come run with me! 🙂
Loved the race. How about those super small water cups at mile 10. Made me laugh.
I missed them… I must have gotten a regular sized cup or I was delirious at that point and didn’t notice. 😉
I got one of those super small cups! They were like the Dixie cups you would keep in your bathroom…. or the ones we would use to make jello shots in school 😉
Congrats on an awesome run! I raced yesterday too, and had a great experience as well! Go Hokies!
It was so fun, and the weather was perfect!
Go Hokies!!! 🙂
So glad you guys had a great race! I’m joining next year for sure 🙂
Yay! 🙂
Congrats on running negative splits and on being first in your age group even with your long run fartleks!
Thanks! 🙂
I read this back when you posted it. I have no idea why I didn’t comment on it. I had a great time running with you at the Hokie Half! Thanks for playing photographer during the race, too. I am already looking forward to running this race next year. I foresee it becoming a staple race that I do each year in the future.
You really kicked it into high gear those last few miles. I’m so glad you were feeling good AND that you decided to go with it and pick up the pace 🙂
Thanks, Meagan! I enjoyed running with you, too. I have a feeling Bill and I will be back next year, too! 🙂
Wow, congrats on the age group win!!! So exciting!! I tlooks like it was an awesome race and I love the idea of post-race chili! Yum!
Thanks, and the chili was outstanding!
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