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You are here: Home / 14in2014 / Half Marathon #6 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 3 – Arkansas

Half Marathon #6 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 3 – Arkansas

April 16, 2014 by MCM Mama 11 Comments

Riverboat Series Half Marathon -Arkansas
April 14, 2014
2:24:22

Arkansas-start-kim

Temp: low 60s and damp at the start, torrential downpours at the end
What I wore: hat, short sleeve shirt, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt,
PROCompression socks, and my trusty Altra Intuitions

Arkansas-start-all

How shall I describe this race?  Never.a.dull.moment.

We started the day by following Google map’s directions to the start.  Their directions involved gravel roads on the levee, big puddles, and cows standing mere inches from the road. Thankfully, Beer Geek grew up driving on roads like that, so we beat the GPS time by 3 minutes.  (If I’d been driving, we’d still be out there…)  The race only got better from there…

The course was a 1.31 loop that half marathoners had to do 10 times.  It was mostly flat and the only “difficulty” was avoiding the big puddles from the previous night’s storms.  For the first 6 laps, I was right on pace and slowly but surely getting too warm.  Then the wind picked up and the temp started to drop.  As I headed out on my 9th lap, it went from threatening rain to all out downpour.  I’ve run in heavy rain before, but this rain was accompanied by lightning and thunder.  Of course, I’d ditched my hat earlier in the race, so I had to run lap 9 with water threatening to wash my contacts right out of my eyes.  Thankfully, I was able to grab my hat for the last lap, but perhaps I’d have been better off grabbing flippers!  I knew they were considering pulling us off the course, so I was booking it to the turnaround so that I could finish.  The back half of the course was about 6 inches deep in flowing water, so that lap was challenging!

You can see the weather progression in my changing outfits:

Chilly at the start:

Arkansas-route

Warming up a bit:

Arkansas-prerain

Getting too warm and ditched the hat (at which point Beer Geek told a bystander “Every time she runs by she takes off something and hands it to me. At this rate, she’ll be running naked at the end.”)

Arkansas-rain

And then it started to pour, so I grabbed my hat again:

Arkansas-Last-lap

And finally I finished! Sopping wet, but happy!

Arkansas-finishline

The good:

  • The course was paved and mostly flat.
  •  I ran with the same friend as the day before for a while + you get a little slap happy when you are practically swimming with 90 of your favorite runners.

Arkansas-route

The bad:

  • Losing the hairband that held my braid meant a wet ponytail flopping around for the rest of the race.

Arkansas-course

The ugly:

  • The lightning! that was right.there.
  • The downpour.
  • Puddles deeper than my shoes.
  • The crazy drive to get there!

Arkansas-finish-kim

Arkansas-finish-trisha

Arkansas-finish-sonja

 

Make sure to enter my 5 things giveaway for the five half marathons in five days!!!

3 down, 2 to go!

Arkansas-dangle

riverboat-medal-3

Race 1 recap: Kentucky

Race 2 recap: Tennessee

 

 

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Filed Under: 14in2014, 5 in 5, 50 states, Half Fanatics Tagged With: Arkansas, half marathons, venus

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Comments

  1. Tina Muir says

    April 16, 2014 at 6:42 am

    Often those races in the pouring rain are actually the funnest races, glad you made the most of it, although I am shocked they did not cancel it with lightning! I cannot believe it was the same loop that many times! That is so crazy!!! Glad you had fun 🙂
    Tina Muir recently posted…Training Update 4/6-4/12 – Generation Run 5KMy Profile

    Reply
  2. jill conyers says

    April 16, 2014 at 8:49 am

    What a fun experience! The good the bad and the ugly! All of it!
    jill conyers recently posted…She Believed She CouldMy Profile

    Reply
    • MCM Mama says

      April 17, 2014 at 5:28 pm

      It was crazy, but the water was coming down so hard and the streets were so flooded, you just had to be amused.

      Reply
  3. Kim @ (Just) Trying says

    April 16, 2014 at 9:12 am

    I will never forget that lightning (before, during and after) the race. And that rain. That Arkansas rain put my Oregon rain to shame.
    Way to finish it strong. So much fun. Miss you already.
    Kim @ (Just) Trying recently posted…Riverboat Series *Arkansas* Half Marathon Race RecapMy Profile

    Reply
    • MCM Mama says

      April 17, 2014 at 5:31 pm

      It.was.insane. Looking forward to seeing you in Wisconsin this summer.

      Reply
  4. Kim says

    April 16, 2014 at 11:48 am

    Wow – awesome to see you still smiling after 3 days of half marathons and that horrible storm to run through!!!
    Kim recently posted…Trusting or Naive?My Profile

    Reply
    • MCM Mama says

      April 17, 2014 at 5:35 pm

      This is one of those situations where you just have to take what comes at you and have fun. I’m kind of sad it’s over.

      Reply
  5. Jade says

    April 16, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    Okay if I thought 6 loops was crazy, then 10 loops I think I’d be going out of my mind. That lightning would scare me too! Can’t wait to hear about the next ones!!!
    Jade recently posted…OTPYWG #4My Profile

    Reply
    • MCM Mama says

      April 17, 2014 at 5:50 pm

      It’s actually a ton of fun. You are constantly interacting with other runners or the rubber band volunteers or the aid station. The people really make these races a running party.

      Reply
  6. Sue @This Mama Runs For Cupcakes says

    April 17, 2014 at 9:22 am

    Seriously, you are my idol.
    Sue @This Mama Runs For Cupcakes recently posted…The Prettiest run this side of the Potomac and a calf updateMy Profile

    Reply
  7. Heather says

    April 21, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    I love that despite the threatening weather this was still better than the hilly course, haha! Sounds like fun, I love rain runs!
    Heather recently posted…Training 4.14.14My Profile

    Reply
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Who is MCM Mama?
A slightly obnoxious mom and wife who loves good beer and running, who struggles a bit with depression especially in the winter and when running isn’t allowed, who’d rather go on a fun vacation than upgrade the kitchen or add a master bath, and has a minor addiction to the Marine Corps Marathon.

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