Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon
May 19, 2014
2:23:17
Temp: high 40s and sunny to start but quickly warmed from there
What I wore: hat, short sleeve shirt, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt,
PROCompression socks, and my trusty Altra Intuitions
I’ve run this course before (back when I was much faster), so I knew what to expect. My parents were coming for the weekend and my dad was going to run it with me. Unfortunately, my mom had to stay home, so dad just came down. We ended up cancelling our hotel rooms and driving down the morning of the race.
Remember a few days ago when I said that I wasn’t worried about not being able to physically handle a race? Famous.last.words. About 15 minutes before the race, my stomach went sour. Two stops in the porta potties right before the race helped, but I still felt off. The race started and I was doing ok, but any uphills (and there are a few before the big hills) made my stomach get angry. I did ok for about the first 7 miles and then I began to keep an eye out for a porta potty without a line. At mile 9.5, I told my dad to just go on ahead. I knew I was either going to be making a stop or doing some major walking. Finally, at mile 10, there was a huge group of porta potties and no lines! Let’s just say my time should have been at least 5 minutes faster and leave it at that. After my little visit, I felt better, but my legs were tight and I had the two big hills still ahead of me. I ended up walking the hills, but I ran the rest at a steady, if somewhat slow pace, and then spent the last half mile picking off as many people as I could.
Not the race I wanted, but it would have been a decent race if not for my stomach.
The good:
- The organization of this race can’t be beat. The marines organize a good race.
- The packet pickup was super smooth. We were in and out in 10 minutes.
- I like this course, but it’s pretty challenging. Still pretty for the most part, though.
- The medal is pretty darn awesome.
- Running the first 9ish miles with my dad was awesome, as usual. Some day I’ll actually finish a half marathon at his pace LOL.
- The weather was beautiful.
- The tons of hot marines cheering you on. Nothin’ wrong with eye candy. (Yes, I appreciate what they do for our country, but when I’m feeling like crap on a run, I REALLY appreciate the scenery and the support.)
- The Lace Locker that was sent to me to try out kept my shoes tied. (I love my altras, but they come untied in nearly every race.)
The bad:
- The hills at mile 10 and 11.
- My stomach. I just felt off and then I felt worse.
- The first 4-5 miles were really crowded. I think we should have started up closer to the front.
- Having to drive down 95 TWICE – packet pickup on Saturday and race on Sunday. I hate this drive (although wasn’t bad at 5am, yawn!) and I really hate having to do it twice, but it sucks to get a hotel room when it’s only an hour away. There are a lot of DC people who run the race, so it would be nice if they’d offer a local pickup option. I’d even volunteer if they did that!
The ugly:
- The porta potty stop. ‘Nuff said.
Would I run it again?
No, but not because it’s not a great race. It is a really well organized race all the way around. The course is good, but challenging. My issue is that it’s a total PITA to get to or I have to spend money on a hotel to stay an hour from home. Not a fan. But if you aren’t local or you want to spend some time in Fredericksburg, it’s definitely a great race to do.
I couldn’t resist buying a few things at the expo…
11 half marathons down, 2 to go! I am so ready to be done. I’ll be “phoning in” Alexandria Half this coming weekend and then it’s time for the celebration that will be ZOOMA Annapolis!
Just a few more days to enter the Altra shoe giveaway! New giveaway starting in a day or so!!!
Hot marines and your hot dad! I think it’s awesome that he ran “with” you.
Sorry about your tummy issues. But, thinking about it, having 13 amazing races in a row probably wasn’t going to happen. Glad you got some of the issues out of the way before the big celebration #13.
I like that pint glass…
Let’s just hope my tummy behaves this weekend at Alexandria. Which, by the way, will be a reasonable temperature this year. You ran it the wrong year. ;o)
Yeah, I kind of had to buy the glass.
That’s great that you got to run with your dad for some of the race! And the medal looks pretty cool. But it does sound like a pain to have to drive down there twice for the race. Even if it was only once it would seem more reasonable.
Yeah, the drive was not awesome, which is too bad as the race is definitely a good one.
Ugh – so sorry that you had stomach issues – never fun and 10x worse during a race!!!
Love that you and your dad run together!
I love running with my dad. But the stomach thing sucked.
You’re so close! Bummer on the stomach issues though 🙁
I’m pretty ready to be done. Two more. Just two more.
That’s so amazing to have the opportunity to run with your dad. Bad luck on the stomach thing huh? You can’t help that. Nice job finishing with challenging circumstances to say the least.
I love to run with my dad. We have a similar cadence, so it works well to run with him.
I would definitely like to try this one next year. I appreciate your pros and cons!!
You’ll enjoy the race – you should get a big group of ladies to go down and stay overnight.
Yay for running with your dad, boo for the porta potty stop… but thank goodness there WAS one! Congrats on race #11!
Yes, I was so very happy to see ones with no lines! It was like a dream come true LOL.
LOL on the scenery. The drive on 95 definitely has kept me away. Do they offer a mail option for packets? I know ATM and CB do (for a fee).
Not that I know of. I’d be willing to run it again if they did…
It was perfect running weather! I hate hospital hill! One day I will attack that hill! It bites me every year…
That.hill. Hate it. My dad ran up it…
Congrats on your race! Ugh, having stomach issues during a half is the worst! So cool that you could run with your dad. I’m thinking of trying some races in the DMV…I’m in Philly but I have family in that area so it woudn’t be too difficult logistics-wise. So in awe that you’ve run 11 halfs in less than 6 months!
Way to persevere, despite how you were feeling. The next race will be yours to conquer!
We went back and forth on registering for this race, and one of the reasons we ultimately decided not to register was because of it being an hour from home, and either having to get a hotel room or make the drive twice like you did. It seems silly to have to get a room for a race that close to home, but then the trade off is an hour drive each way two days in a row. A DC area pickup option would be great!
Yeah, the drive down 95 was not high on my list of fun things about this race.