Maymont Half (Read 685 times)

My sister lives about a mile or so away from Maymont. Last Thanksgiving I drug my wife out with me for a "pre-gluttony" (what I thought was) 4 - 5 mile run on Thanksgiving Day and we ended up jogging 9 miles, part of which was through Maymont. Whoops... coulda used a Garmin that day! Congratulations to Kevin! Awesome race!

Thanks, guys. I started writing a report last night but I was too tired. The day started with the alarm going off at 4:05. I thought the extra 5 minutes of sleep would help, but I could have used those 5 minutes later. After a 2+ hour drive and a bathroom break, I parked 2 blocks away with 12 minutes to spare. By the time I picked up my packet and number and dropped the packet off at the car, and jogged to the start (with a stop in the bushes since there were still lines at the porta potties), I had about 3 minutes to spare. At this point I was wishing I had taken a minute to put my contacts in, but I often run without them so I thought no big deal. Within about one minute of the start, most of the front row pretenders I started behind were now behind me, and I could see the 4 guys I’d be chasing following. Since I didn’t have my contacts, I missed most of the small mile markers. When I saw 11:52 at mile 2, I thought oh no, that’s more like 5k pace. It’s a really interesting course, with wide trails, narrow trails, roads, sidewalks, 4 stairways, several bridges (including one wooden bridge with a board sticking up that I almost tripped over with my poor eyesight). By around 5 miles I could feel someone overtaking me. Since I was lonely I ran beside him a little and told him I started too fast. He said he was finally warmed up, and that he had run this course every day for 4 years. I asked and he said he was aiming for 1:20. I briefly entertained thoughts of running with him, but instead encouraged him to run down “red shirt”, who was about ¼ mile ahead at that point. He passed him just after mile 8, on the way up the stairs to the floodwall. From around 7 to 10 miles was the hardest part for me. It included several short steep hills and stair climbs, and I could tell I was slowing significantly. But when I reached a flatter, straight stretch on Robert E. Lee Bridge (this IS Richmond) I could see that I was gaining on “red shirt”. When I saw the 10 mile mark on the bridge I decided I could work hard for another 5k. I caught him before mile 11, and he was nice enough to yell “left” when my poor eyesight and delirium almost took me off the course. I felt him settling in right behind me and it felt like I was carrying him and was barely moving. I managed to keep going and pull away, and I felt great knowing I would easily beat my 1:25 goal. I finished with a smile when I saw the 1:22 on the clock, although I yelled at the announcer that it is pronounced “yohder” not “yahder”.

Wow! That's fantastic! I was at Maymont yesterday too, but I was there as a coach. We had two middle schoolers running the 3K at 9am, so I saw some half marathoners finishing then. Then I had to stay all day for my high schoolers, who were running at 2pm. Fun stuff, except for the sunburn on my face and the fact that I really wanted to get in there and run too! I may try the half next year... Congratulations on a ridiculously awesome time!!

Awesome! - 5:04 WoW! Congrats,Kevin!

Holy Crap you are F-A-S-T!

Great Job! Dame your fast! Good report too!