Gar Williams Half Marathon
December 15, 2013
2:16:27
This race was sort of anticlimactic. There was no t-shirt. There were no medals. I didn’t even take a selfie. I wasn’t DFL (dead effing last), but I was close. But there was a huge sigh of relief that I’d finished my quest.
The good:
- The course was on a packed dirt path.
- It was a small race so parking and bib pickup were a piece of cake.
- Bagels with nutella at the end.
- I got to run with my dad!
- I’m done.
The bad:
- The puddles and the mud.
- Barely receiving acknowledgement that I’d finished as I crossed the finish line.
- It was a race organized by a run club. They were all fast.
The ugly:
- The wind. 6.5 miles into a headwind. Uphill.
- We didn’t realize we were running a slight downhill on the way out.
- The mud that was icy.
My dad hurt his back a few days ago, so he wasn’t even sure he was going to run. He decided the morning of the race that he could. We went out fast-ish in an attempt to get to the turnaround in a reasonable time, expecting we’d run/walk the second half. We ended up running the whole thing. I died at mile 12, but I still managed to run it in. Yes, my dad beat me again.

****TOSSSSSSES CONFETTI******
you are so flipping tenacious and amazing.
Well done, even if the final half was a bit anti-climactic
I feel your pain regarding the puddles and the mud. I misjudged the depth of one of the puddles around mile 5 or 6 and ended up with a soaked foot. Despite the headwind and the ever so gentle upward slope, I liked the return part better. I get bored on the C&O canal towpath, so I’m always eager to hit the turnaround and then get to the finish.
I’m supposed to run the 20k there as well and I’m just not sure I can run on that path again LOL.
Awesome job!! And ugh that wind sounds super annoying. I think that is my least favorite thing in the world, to run into the wind. Congrats!!
Congrats on meeting your goal!
WooHoo!!! You did it, you did it!!! Way to go.
Wow! You are an inspiration. I just signed up for 14 in 2014 but I picked a combo deal, I couldn’t imagine running more than 2 half marathons in 2014!
You did it!! Congratulations. And to your Dad – congratulations too!
Amazing! Well done and those damn running club races are discouraging when so many are so fast.
I don’t like races that don’t hand out medals either! Shirts, that is okay as you can get a lot of those anyways, but medals? Those race organizers should hopefully get an email from you as no matter where you are in the pace line you should have people cheering you at the finish line!! A finish is a finish!!!
YAY! Congrats on getting 13 halves in this year, so freaking awesome! Love that you did your last one with your dad too, even if it was anticlimactic im sure that made it even a little more special!