Seymour Johnson AFB Half Marathon

Last Sunday I ran a full marathon in Cary, NC.  I didn’t know how the recovery would go so I held off on signing up.  It helps that I’m a volunteer instructor there…so they know me and let me wait until Wednesday to decide.  Who am I kidding?  I was going to run it, just had no idea how fast.  I run around the base fairly often, so I had run almost all of the course (one small section I’d never run) at different points.  In other words, I can’t claim ignorance!

Saturday morning was cold for late March in eastern NC (about 34/35 deg F).  A bit of a breeze, but didn’t seem too bad…then again it always is fairly calm early in the day.  It was a small group running the half—somewhere between 30 and 40 runners, mainly folks that I’ll see fairly often running around the base.  After a short (1.5 mile) warm up, I decided to go with a lightweight running hat, sunglasses, short sleeve wicking shirt, light gloves, shorts and calf sleeves.  Also decided to wear my new Saucony Guide 10s.  Slightly less stack height than the Asics GT 2000s I typically run in, but about 2 oz lighter as well.

Since it was run on an active duty (primarily) base the runners skewed younger than typical.  Fitter too for the most part.  With the marathon less than a week behind me, I had no expectations.  Thought if I could manage 7:45s, I’d be thrilled but 8’s were more likely.  We lined up, and we were off.

Since there weren’t that many runners, the start wasn’t tight; but it was quick.  A few folks went out really quick.  I soon found myself on my own in 6^th (thought it was 5^th, but I learned later I missed someone.  First mile was to, and then past, the main fire department and the control tower.  I sped up some to get behind a couple of young guys before we turned into the wind.  Successful, but the time was 7:09.  Didn’t feel bad, but it was also early.  One thing about running on a base—a lot of long straightaways (there is a runway…..).  Can be demoralizing.  At least this was a long “down hill” that ended at a turn by the hangar where I work.  We passed the 2^nd mile (water tables every two miles—but not right by the road and no volunteers to hand out cups—you grabbed a filled cup but you had to veer a bit).  Second mile in 7:22—and I was able to draft.  We ran up a short hill and were now on Perimeter Road.  This is mainly driven by Security Forces to patrol that side of the base.  Mainly farmland, a pig farm, the EOD range, then a short area that runs beside the Neuse River and up a hill towards the bomb dump.  That area started about the 6 mile mark.  I stayed with the two younger guys (wind was behind us from about mile 3 to mile 6.5 or so).  Splits were between 7:10 and 7:15.  I thanked them about the 5 mile mark, I fully expected to them to pull ahead of me as we headed towards the bomb dump.  Oddly, the opposite happened.  I pulled ahead of them and would run the rest of the race on my own.

The next few miles were towards the base hospital…and into the wind.  My times slowed, but not as much as it felt, to the 7:30-7:40 range.  As I rounded a corner and headed past the other side of the hospital, I heard steps behind me.  A young man (different from the 2 I’d drafted early in the race) went past me moving pretty effortlessly.  I briefly tried to go with him, but at that point we were 9+ miles in….he left me.  We ran through the only place I hadn’t run on the course—around the billeting and transient family area.  Suddenly a lot of turns.  Briefly on road to the main gate, then we turned into the parking lot for the base club.  Now we would run through part of the family housing area for two miles.  Some wind in the face early, but then it was on the side, then….for the last .75 or so, blessedly behind us.  Pace actually dropped back into the 7:20s.  The last mile+ is (another) straight shot.  Slight incline.  As I was heading in, one of the two guys I had drafted passed me, moving fast.  Was happy to see him finish ahead of me—he had certainly earned it!  His friend was a couple of minutes behind by then.

I finished in 1:35x (will get the official time at some point….I hope) and 6^th OA.  Pretty sure I was the first to finish over 40 (let alone over 50).  Considering what I thought was even possible, I’m more than thrilled with how it went.

Nice race, Flacon.

And, if you can work it out, go for a run with stumpy--you won't be sorry.

Nice race report. I truly enjoyed reading it.

Well done on both, your marathon and half!!!

Great to see a potential RA family meet up in the future!! Stumpy is a fun fellow to hang out with.

 

  Maybe this round, I'll actually go to the museum part. 

That brought back memories of an incident around 40 years ago. I was doing some accounting work at a large industrial company in England and would pass their 'museum' on the way to and from the canteen for lunch. As I also dealt with a number of charities set up by the original family, I frequently spent a few minutes perusing the exhibits.

A few weeks later a new TV series started called UXB, based around the exploits of a bomb disposal unit. Someone working at the company thought the central object from episode 3 looked rather like one of the museum exhibits from the Second World War period and they decided to get it checked out - it was live! It had been sat in the museum, which was situated at the center of the office building, for about 30 years.