I had the jitters about this race. I had set what i thought would be a challenging goal of 2:10:00. My fastest race was a year and a half ago in the Outer Banks, of 2:14:59. Just 5 months ago, i completed the Outer Banks half in 2:23:03.
My coach and i talked and determined it would be a good idea for me to run with the 2:10 pace group. Pace groups are not always available for races, but the pace leaders are generally experienced runners who can guarantee a finish in a certain amount of time. I thought this would be a good idea, although i was nervous because pace groups tend to run with even splits, meaning in this case that every mile would be 9:55. Meanwhile my best miles tend to be in the middle and the last miles generally have me running a little slower. But my coach reminded me of the runs i had done where she asked me to run the last 3 miles faster than the first ones, and it’s true, i have done it. So the pace group was our plan.
The alarm went off at 4:30 AM. After one snooze, i got up and stumbled around getting ready. No hint of dawn outside. I dressed in short sleeves and shorts, despite it being around 40 degrees. I left the house right after 5 AM and got to the parking area at 5:25. I was ahead of the rush, as i had very little traffic to contend with, but i heard it got really crowded not much later. The parking for this race is 5 miles away from the start. The course is super nice, but the logistics are a little daunting. Last year they had some problems, it seems, and it was promised that this year there were more buses to transport people back and forth. There were many buses waiting for me when i arrived, and i arrived at the race site before 6 AM, plenty of time.
I arrived early, and i was lucky. Folks who arrived after 6 AM were not as lucky. A few buses even got lost that morning (there are many turns on back roads to get between the parking and the race), and some later arrivals showed ended up on a bus that got lost and didn’t show up until 30 min after the race had started!
I, however, was early, and with an hour to kill, i visited the bathrooms twice and walked around trying to stay warm. A few lucky early registrants had purchased parking passes on site (before they ran out), and people were sitting in their cars being warm. I was walking past a row of cars, thinking to myself “i wish one of these strangers would let me into their car for awhile”. Not a moment later, i heard my name. I turned, scanned, saw a familiar car and the familiar silhouette of my friend Jeff. I immediately ran over and dove into the backseat, greeting him and his girlfriend. To my surprise, their dog was also sharing the backseat with me and had many kisses to bestow. And so i passed a comfortable 20 minutes.
Then it was off to the bag check, one more visit to the bathrooms (of which there were plenty – the organizers got that part right), and then off to find my pace group.
I was not familiar with the course. Despite Brennan telling me several times to get out here and run at least part of it, i never did. I was surprised to find out our pacer had never run the course either. But i guess when you are that experienced you don’t need to.
The race started late, by at least 15 minutes. I’m not officially sure why but my guess is they were waiting for a couple of late buses.
Mile 1: The start was downhill, but obviously very crowded with 2300 horses all in one place. Still, we had two wide lanes of road, and pretty quickly everyone was running at a reasonable pace. The second half of this mile was uphill. I noticed that we were running significantly behind pace, so i broke away from the pace group to try to get closer to pace, figuring they would catch up eventually. 10:16
Mile 2: We turned onto one of the back roads, and the two-lane road is wall to wall runners. Nearly halfway through the mile, the pace group passed me, and i picked up my pace in order to stay with them. My fear was coming true, as the pace group was leaving me behind! The pace leader was weaving in and out of the runners, leaving a rather large group darting between runners to try to keep up. We were going too fast. My watch was saying a pace in the 8:00s for the second half of this mile. Definitely felt like i was working too hard too early in the race. 9:09
Mile 3: Even though she made up the bad time from Mile 1 with the fast time from Mile 2, the pace leader did not slow down very much during this third mile. We are still on the two-lane road, and still darting around other runners to try to keep up. Still breathing too hard for this early in the race. I did my best to keep up. 9:07
Mile 4: Finally, we turned onto the tobbaco trail and got dirt under our feet instead of pavement. Definitely much nicer. The pace leader slowed her pace down considerably with this mile, after getting 35 seconds ahead of pace at the end of mile 3. I was getting tired of the inconsistent pace, so i pulled ahead of the group, and figured i would just run my best race, and let them be a safety net. Meaning if they caught me, i would know i’d need to turn it up a notch. 9:35
Mile 5: Grabbed some water and gobbled a Gu here. It was a little earlier in the race than i would normally eat an energy gel, but it was better now than to wait 2 more miles until the next water stop. I was carrying Gatorade with me on a race belt, but water is better for Gus. I chatted a bit with a few folks. Then i saw two gals i recognized who had also been trying to run with the 2:10 pace group. We commiserated a bit about the inconsistent pace, and they said they were doing a 9:30-9:45 pace, and invited me to run with them. I said i’d be glad to try to keep up. 9:27
Mile 6: Port-a-johns here, and i debated stopping due to an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, but it wasn’t urgent yet and i thought it might go away. The weather was nice. There was apparently a goat around here, too, but i totally missed it. We started seeing lots of faster people passing us by who had already hit the turnaround. 9:12
Mile 7: The turnaround is at the end of this mile. We know it’s coming because we see more and more runners. It’s fun to see everyone, mostly still looking strong. The pace groups are boisterous, and we yell at all of them and they yell back. “Go 1:40!!” “Woo!!” Saw $Bill and yelled at him, he was running ahead of the 2:00 pacer. 9:06
Mile 8: Finally! Heading back the way we came. It feels like we’re on the way back now. Still hanging with my two runaway companions. We make small talk. They both work for the school system. There aren’t many landmarks here, but the trail is still super nice. Gobbled my second Gu halfway through. 9:36
Mile 9: A few people are making jokes now, about how we are almost done with the 10-mile warm-up that preceeds the 5K at the end. Haha. 9:27
Mile 10: Last mile on the trail. We’re about to hit pavement again. Near the end, some volunteers were handing out Dixie cups saying “beer! beer!” I had noticed this on the way in, but i assumed they were just giving out water and making a joke about it being beer. But, it was ACTUAL BEER. And some runners were drinking it! I have to say beer was the last thing i wanted at that moment in time. Even smelling it was bad enough. 9:45
Mile 11: Not long after the mile marker, the real water stop appeared. I grabbed my water and i was going to hold onto it for a few steps, but i dropped it. Dang. Getting clumsy. Not surprising i guess. I slowed down a bit here and let my two runaway companions run away from me. Got my third Gu in me to give some energy for the last 3 miles. 10:03
Mile 12: Honestly, this mile felt extremely slow. On pavement and with a few small hills, i just felt like i was dragging. I was OK with that – i could handle a slower mile here. Somehow my momentum kept me going. 9:57
Mile 13: This last mile was thankfully pretty flat. It felt longer than the others, and several people around me were voicing the same sentiments. But all i could think was “almost done, almost done.” A truck was set up about a half mile from the end with loud peppy music playing – it was enough to get you the last little ways. 9:50
Final .1: Such a relief to see the finish line. Sprinted down the hill and the guy next to me did the same as he didn’t want me to pass him. I saw that my watch was closing in on 2:07 and i sprinted even harder to try to beat that time. And i did. 2:20.
Total time: 2:06:56
I was ecstatic! I got that almost-cry feeling behind my face as i claimed my medal and water. I knew i was well ahead of the pace group for most of the race, but while i did slow down during the last miles, as i knew i would, it wasn’t nearly as much as i had feared. Wow, i am just so thrilled!
In the press of people, i still managed to find and hug my coach and even my boss, who was there for her daughter but got to hug me too.
I got my bag from the bag check and immediately started looking for the shuttle buses to get to my car and go HOME. Lance called as soon as i got my phone out and gave me kudos. No one seemed to know where the shuttles were. I finally just followed a steady stream of folks to the back of the baseball park. We found a line for the buses and proceeded to stand in it.
Except there were no buses. By the way, the bus pickup was at the first mile marker. So we all had just run 13 miles, and now had to walk another mile in order to wait in a line. The walking was probably good for us, but my feet were pretty unhappy.
One bus showed up and the line moved forward, and we waited some more. After 40 minutes we still hadn’t moved much. Finally a handful of buses showed up. Of course it takes awhile to load and unload them. 65 minutes after getting in line, i was finally on a bus. The end of the line at that point was even further away than it was when i had first gotten in line. And the marathoners would start showing up soon.
My one-hour wait was one of the shorter waits. And the people near me in line were very grumbly. I’ve heard some folks waited 2.5-3 hours for a bus. I can’t imagine what their grumblings sounded like.
The organizers have sent out a letter of apology to everyone. It’s really too bad because the course was really nice, but i know several people who will not do this race again. I won’t say never, and i trust that they’d try to improve it for next year.
Race Results
Place Div/Tot S Bib Name Age City St 4.5 Pace Chiptm Pace Guntime
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1155 103/207 F 4074 Audrey Ventura 32 Raleigh NC 41:28 9:13 2:06:56 9:42 2:07:56
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Tags: running
