Today I ran in the oldest half marathon in Indiana. Partly because it fit perfectly into my training mileage and partly because it starts about three blocks from my front door. The race is called the Sam Costa and I would say this is about the perfect half-marathon for several reasons. 1) the field was small at about 600 2) it runs through local neighborhoods 3) the support on the course is great 4) it is very inexpensive. So now for the report. The weather here was perfect today. 35 and sunny with a 10mph breeze. The race starts on a big hill (remember this is Indiana so not that big) which I will have to climb for the last half mile or so later in the morning. Once we get going, its through local neighborhoods and some walking trails that connect the different subdivisions. There are lots of people on their lawns cheering people which is surprising since its cold and realtively early on a Saturday but certainly appreciated. After about mile four we get into some rolling country with cattle farms and rock quarries. Its very peaeful and nice. Each intersection has at least ttwo volunteers to guide runners and control traffic. I had the chance to meet several new people during the run and they were from all over and now have settled in Carmel Indiana. Met someone thet lived in Walnut Creek CA about the same time we did and we had great stories about our favorite eatery called Max's Opera House (no longer there). I met a fellow engineer from Delaware who is a huge Notre Dame fan (a plus for me) and had Lou Holtz at their sisters wedding. Basically, there were lots of good conversations along they way. There were sevral aid stations manned by several families and their kid's friends. Their enthusiasm was contagious. The conversations made the miles seems shorter and before we knew it, we were working our way up that hill to the finish I managed a 2:17:08 and my average HR was 138. Currently I am building a base with a Maffetone program and am supposed to keep my HR at or below 138 or 139. You can check out more about this at the LHR forum. I've been working it for three weeks and can really see the difference already. So this run was a great success for me. My next half is the Indy Mini which is on May 3rd and then the Geist Half two weeks later. I hope others might join me at the Sam Costa next year as this race is certainly a great value with all the trimmings. Oh and the obligatory t-shirt was cretainly unique but hey who's complaining for $20.

Congrats! Sounds like a fantastic race! $20? Disney wants $30 for their 5K next month! I like the small field, too, and I'm glad that you still got good crowd support. You gotta love it when people get up to cheer for people running in front of their houses--especially in 35 degrees! Thanks for the report!