I ran in a new half marathon, Shamrock Half Marathon, held in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. It starts in Saratoga Springs at the High School , heads west into Eagle Mountain, making a couple loops in the Ranches sub-divisions, and then returning to the High School. The first and last three miles are rural, running by farms, and the rest runs through neighborhoods. This half is pretty tough with lots of turns and about 800 feet hill climbing.
I got hit by a sinus infection yesterday, so the bacteria probably affected me, but I still pushed through it. It was a brisk 23 degrees at the start and 32 degrees at the finish, but the sun came out during the race and made it feel warmer. I dressed about right. I believe there were 98 runners who started and only one other person I knew, buddy Mark Ellison. Strange that it didn’t attract many runners from Saratoga Springs. I did a little warm-up run, but it was too cold to spend much time out before the start.
We started a little after 8:00 a.m. and I quickly took the lead to get my legs going. I was still leading at the 1/2-mile mark, but then backed off. For the first five miles I really struggled to get warmed up, but after that felt much better. My splits for miles 1-5, were 7:06, 7:17, 7:58(hill), 7:43, 7:49. About four runners passed me before the first mile and buddy Mark Ellison passed me during mile 2. I was able to keep him in sight for the rest of the race. Another pack of several runners passed me around mile 4. At mile 5, I think I was in about 9th place. As I made the turn in the middle of the Ranches, my oldest son Davy was in his car at the intersection heading to work. He honked the horn and yelled out the window.
Finally at mile 5, I felt semi-warmed up and my legs enjoyed the gentle uphill. I was closing the distance on the pack ahead of me. Finally we got some downhill which my legs appreciated but still a couple more young runners caught up and passed me. The final runner to pass me was a girl, who caught me as we crossed a busy road around mile 7.5. We crested a steep hill at mile 8.7 and I really blasted down a quarter mile dirt road very fast, almost catching three runners ahead. My splits miles 6-9 were 7:30, 7:13 (downhill), 7:54 (hill), 7:42 (up and down).
I was now headed back to Saratoga Springs. I could see Mark only a quarter mile ahead, I was gaining on him, but every time I was thinking I would catch him, either he sped up or I slowed down. I did pass a runner slowing down right before mile 10. We crested the final hill at mile 11, and I knew there were two fast miles to the finish. The girl and a guy were in my sights. I passed the guy at mile 12 and then started to close the distance on the girl. Could I catch her before the finish? It looked like I could, came within 20 yeards, but with only a quarter mile to go, my left quad complained so I backed off. My splits for miles 10-13 were: 6:58, 7:41, 6:55 (downhill), and 7:13. I was obviously feeling great near the finish, clocking negative splits. I wished the race was a couple miles longer because I could have caught 4-5 runners ahead who finished within a quarter mile of me.
I came in at 1:37:53. I had hoped to break 1:40 on this tough course, so I was pleased. I came in 12th place overall and first in my age group. I received a nice little plaque. Two runners in their 40s were only a couple minutes ahead, so I was close to winning that age group too. I was also pleased that all my miles were sub 8:00. I believe I could have continued sub-8s for quite awhile more.
For cool down, I ran for awhile on the track. I think that is the first time I've run around a track in 30 years. Wow, what a bore, felt almost as bad as a treadmill. I went back to the finish and cheered lots of people as they came in. | 