For the second time ever (and this year), I was late for the start of a race.

 

The Air Force Marathon/HM is held on Wright Patterson Air Force Base, about 20 minutes from my home.  I knew from last year (HM) and the year before (M) that there would be lots of traffic congestion getting onto the base, so I left at 7am, an hour and a half before the 8:30 race start.  I arrived at the freeway exit that emptied directly into a base entry gate at 7:25, and found traffic at a standstill.  It took 55 minutes to go about ½ mile (reminded me of Seattle) to the bottom of the exit ramp and into the base (and there was still a long line of cars behind me), where we were directed to parking on the other side of the airfield.  I parked and ran to the shuttles, which were taking continuous loads of runners across and dropping at the AF Museum.  From there I jogged through clumps of people, with the other runners, looking for the start line.  The race had already started and we had to thread our way among the dispersing crowd of spectators.  I had to ask several people, “which way to the start?”  I stopped at a portopottie on the way (I figured I was so late now, another couple minutes wouldn’t matter) and then headed across the start line and after the crowd ahead.  Thank goodness for timing chips.

 

Not an auspicious beginning…

 

Clear skies and sunny, 63° at the start (70° by the end) was warmer than I had hoped for.  Last year, in similar temps, I ran this race much slower (2:17) and nearly passed out afterward, due, I think, to the heat and not enough hydrating.  (That’s the only time that has happened to me.)  Still, I’ll take sunny and warm over some of the other weather options.

 

Starting the race nearly 10 minutes late meant I had to work my way through all the walkers, hundreds of them, along a narrow road, so I spent most of the first 4 miles saying, “Excuse me,” “passing on your right,” “runner coming on your left,” etc. and did a lot of running in the gravel next to the road as I passed people.  The price you pay for being tardy…

 

The course was mostly flat, with some rolling hills about the size of freeway overpasses.  As a matter of fact, some of them WERE freeway overpasses.  Not huge, but tough enough.  As I chugged up a long overpass early in the race, I thought, I live on a hill – I will NOT let this overpass beat me!

 

As a sidenote, I had decided to try to pay attention to the aide stations this time, since they always send e-mails asking me to vote on my favorite hydration station, but I never remember.  Mostly my concentration is focused on grabbing a cup without splashing it on me or the volunteer, and not plowing into another runner in the process.  But one stop stood out in my mind on this course.  Somewhere near the 11^th mile, I could hear up ahead, blaring loudly, “Now, sit right down and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, ……”  and who should I see when I rounded the corner but the full costumed cast of Gilligan’s Island.  I had to laugh (and it was a time when I really needed that laugh).  They’ll get my vote.

 

Based on my last race (a 5-miler in July), the McMillan calculator suggested a HM finishing time of 1:51:12 (8:30 pace).  I’ve been training hard since then, though, and was hoping for a faster time, maybe even beating my HM PR of 1:48:10.  CNYrunner had advised me to aim at 8:25 for the first 7 miles, then try to bring it down from there, so that’s what I tried to do.

 

Let me bore you with my Garmin-recorded splits:

 

8:21

8:17

8:19

8:26

8:24

8:26

8:23

8:16

8:14

8:19

8:17

8:00

7:38

6:45 (last .16)

 

Results:

 

1:48:31             Chip time

589/3839           Overall

123/1909           Female

24/242              AG (40-44)

 

While I didn’t beat my PR, I’m very happy with the result for several reasons.  For one thing, my PR was set on a flat course along the river – those freeway overpasses and rolling hills in yesterday’s race were enough to cost me a few extra seconds, so this is a comparable result.  Also, one of the purposes for this race was to be part of my training for the Columbus marathon in 4 weeks, and to see where I am right now, fitness-wise.  McMillan has been fairly accurate for me in the past, and when I plug in this result, it predicts a marathon time of 3:48:52 – the exact time of my PR marathon! (at the Air Force Marathon in 2007)  So this means that, if all the forces of nature are working for me on race day, beating that PR might be possible.  Of course, we all know how many things can go wrong on race day that can throw all your training down the tube, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Isn’t it silly how we runners get so serious about just a few seconds or minutes? 

 

Thanks for listening.

Wow, Holly, I'd be a nervous wreck if I was that late to the starting line!  My heartrate would be spiking before I even started!  Anyway, nicely done, and nice pick-up at the end.  Thanks for the RR, and you're gonna rock Columbus!

Great job, Holly.  And don't forget how weaving through those crowds early on took some energy as well.  You're in great shape for your marathon.

Holly, you lived my recurring nightmare: being late to a race and not being able to find the starting line. And those temps were not too runner-friendly; in my practice HM yesterday 250 miles to your north, it was at least 10 degrees cooler.

 

But you ran a very smart and successful race for sure! All that bobbing and weaving at the start probably cost you more effort than you might think. Make it to the start on time in Columbus and I predict a very good marathon result.

 

Congratulations and best of luck!

Nice work Holly and check out those negative splits! A few seconds can add up to major minutes either way, so it pays to be serious about them.

You ran well in this "training through" race and a 3:45 or better is absolutely within your grasp. Sounds like you may have a great running partner to battle the miles in BuckeyeChamp---even better.

Well done my friend and I think I would have flipped out in the traffic frustration, so my hat is off to you for dealing with it and making it through. I am not surprised though since I know how tough you are.

Can't wait to see you Wednesday morning when I can give you a Congratulations hug in real time!

Karin

nice work Holly!!  your splits are so impressive - someday i want to be just like you!!

Hey, so being late in Seattle was good training for this one! Glad you were able to deal with it well, and yes dodging traffic does take a lot of physical as well as mental energy. Good job on a good race, and yeah, I bet you would've PR'd given different circumstances (like being on time!). Looking forward to seeing how well you do in Columbus, fren.

Great job, holly.  I agree with others that dodging people at the begining had an effect on your finish time.  The warmish day didn't help, either.  Congratulations.

 

TomS