Crossposted to the Racing forum also. I did it, I completed my first Half Marathon yesterday, running the Marathon by the Sea half in Saint John, NB. I have only been running since the beginning of March however I have been faithful and diligent with my training and it paid off yesterday with a comfortable run and reasonable result. One issue on my mind leading up to the weeked was Hurricane Kyle and the direct path that it was on to my small city. That along with another storm dumped an amazing amount of rain on the area in the days before the race and the hours and evening after the race. For the 8 AM start the weather was great - 18 C, overcast, no rain and minor wind. I was glad not to have to run my first half in a torrential downpour. The start was exciting for a newbie like me (only one 5k under my belt) with about 1500 people lined up for the Half, full and 10k. The gun went and it took about 2 minutes to get to the line and then we were off. I started slow to ensure I didn't get overexcited and head out too quickly and it worked because the crowd was tight and I didn't have much room to move quickly anyway. The course was good, although our City is very hilly, so there were plenty of ups and downs along the way. Fortunately it was my hometown race so I had run the majority of the route in the past and was familiar with it. For the first few kms I was ahead of the target 6 min/km so I was happy with that and thought I would end up right around the 2:15 mark or so at the finish. I didn't really have a goal in mind, but was hoping for less then 2:30 with 2:15 being my stretch and most optimistic finish. For the first half I ran along by myself, and then around mile 6 I came up to an old college friend and roomate and we ran the remainder of the course together. It was great to chat and catch up on everything as we went. Neither of us was too concerned with setting any sort of record, so we did chat here and there and enjoying ourselves. It was a great distraction to have company as I usually run alone, and I barely noticed the miles flying by. Before I knew it we passed out last big hill (mile 11) and then had a nice flat section and downhill the last 500 metres to the finish. It was great to see the crowd cheering us home and having my family athe finish was excellent as well. It was fun crossing the line at the end with my good friend, and celebrating the successful finish of my first half after training for so long. My best case finish time was 2:15 and the official chip time was....... 2:09:14!!!! I was shocked and more than happy with the time, and hopefully the next one will be under 2 hours. I didn't win any age group or medals, but I didn't expect any prizes, not with the mens winner finishing in 1:13!! I used the Higdon novice plan to train and I can say it worked perfectly. I felt great for the entire training period, the entire race went very well with no rough spots, and I feel fine the next day, although a bit sore. I am sure I could have actually gone a little faster, but I was enjoying myself, the company and the overall environment. Here is a public link to some photos from the race. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75308&l=25bb9&id=581435445

Awesome race! Thanks for the report. Jason

Nice work. You ran a smart race and had a good time. It doesn't get any better than that. Keep working at it and that sub 2 will be yours. Congratulations.

Congratulations! Sounds like a good race not too far from home! A, your neighbor in Maine