Notes
79F 74TH 70DP, The Area 13.1 Half Marathon in Roswell, GA, after having done the Vinings Downhill 5k earlier in the morning.
Got there at 1700 for an 1830 race start and that was way too late. Traffic at the venue was totally stop and go with most of the close parking lots full. Be sure to get there at least 2.5 hours before race start next time.
There were a bunch of tents set up in a park kind of area, with glow sticks, water, coconut water, etc, etc and it was nice to just lay on the grass in the sun and relax and BS with fellow runners.
It seemed pretty well organized, both before and after the run, but I didn't like the course. The course is essentially a concatenation of the Possum Trot/Chattahoochee Challenge 10k and the Run the River/Homesite 10k. There are steep hills at both ends for the turnaround as well as a dip down into the starting registration area at the midpoint. I was number 484.
There is not only the dirt section that one expects from the Run the River/Homesite 10k, but later on one is directed back onto a dirt section that parallels the main road for well over a mile. Part of this section is paved and is the same paved pathway that Michelle E. and I had to walk from where we parked at the Homesite 10k to get to the registration area. There is also a boardwalk section here with some small bridges.
After one passes the registration area to start the second half of the course (namely the Possum Trot/Chattahoochee Challenge 10k section) one again is running on a paved trail which parallels the road. After some distance it moves back on to the road. This is the best section of the course and by this time it is starting to get a bit dark.
At mile 9.5 the rain started. It got heavy for a bit and then tapered off, staying with us for about a mile. I was sad to see that we had to do the hill before we got to the turnaround. For the turnaround we had to do down into a parking area where they had a water stop, then do the U turn and come back out of that area and hit the hill again. At this point it was dark, but it didn't matter that much because the roadway is smooth and doesn't vary too much in terms of hilliness.
In the last three miles I had wanted to speed up but the inability to see the surface was problematic. I stumbled slightly a couple of times because I couldn't tell where a decline ended and an incline started, so I would catch my foot at the start of the incline. I was worried about taking a fall, and so held back a bit. This was worse after moving off the street and back onto the path which wasn't quite as smooth.
After turning back onto Azalea Drive one is running on a path again. The run became more problematic because there was oncoming traffic and the headlights would blind me so that I couldn't see if there was a runner in front of me or whether I was about to run off the path or not. I would try to hold my water bottle up to block the headlights but that wasn't terribly effective. I did bump into a couple other runners just because I couldn't see well.
Also, when moving into the finish area the ground is not real level, and without being able to see it one is a bit afraid of trying to finish fast lest one stumble and do a face plant.
There were lots of helpful volunteers both for the start, aiding with parking, and afterwards to aid the merge out of the parking lot back into traffic. Plus the goodie bag/t-shirt areas and everything else at the finish was well organized. I have no complaints with regard to race organization. Results were available on the computer as soon as I got home.
Don't know if I would want to do this again or not. I would probably want to carry lighting and use it on that last section. It is a nuisance to have to carry lighting the entire run. I certainly wouldn't want to have to wear a headlamp until it was needed. I saw only one person wearing one. But the inability to see really bothered me in that last section, especially with the oncoming headlights.
Anyway, I was a hell of a lot slower than I expected to be.