2024 Glass City Half Marathon race recap

2024 was my 13th year participating in a Run Glass City event, and my 7th time running the half marathon.  That stat surprised me.  Time flies!  Since it was the 15th annual edition of the Glass City Half Marathon, we got additional swag – hats.  We also got nice race shirts (so soft!) and because our town of Toledo is known as the “Glass City”, we got mugs when we finished the race.

Race day this year came with a lot of weather predictions early on.  The biggest concern was warmer than usual temperatures.  More so that we have not trained in warmer weather so most of us were not acclimated to heat!  “High temps of 82!  Hydrate early, hydrate often!  Adjust your goal!”  Since I had run the 5K on Saturday in similar temps, I knew what to expect.  But I also knew the early start time would really help.  This was the Savage 5K on Saturday:

Let’s to go Sunday….

4:45 am – wake up time!!  We were out of the house at 5:20am and I was quite surprised to see how quickly the lot was filling in already when we got there around 5:45.  On the way to the start line I realized I forgot my phone in the car!  I jogged back to the car, a half mile away, and made it back in time to use the gear check and line up in the corrals.  Good thing I didn’t need to use the porta potty before the race!

6:32 am – the race started!  It was already 63 degrees which is probably 20 degrees more than most people wished it was.  And yet, I still saw people in long sleeve shirts and tights.  They are in for a fun race!

I was stuck behind the 2:15 pace group, so I had to weave through some busy spots of the race until I hit the 2:00 pace group.  It was early, and I was feeling good, so I passed them.  It was a good motivation knowing I had this group behind me.

In my mind I had thought I would run between 1:55 and 2hrs, depending on the weather.  I figured I just need to be under 9:00 miles to get a good goal.  So far, all miles were looking good – miles 1 – 6 were 8:56, 8:52, 8:48, 8:43, 8:55, 8:51.

Eventually we made our way through the scenic area of the race, Ottawa Hills. Very old, large beautiful mansions… and some hills!  The light rain had started, which felt good.  The humidity was getting to me, I was sweating!  Miles 7-9: 9:00, 8:57, 9:02.  Still on track overall!

I know I talk about this every year, but I really should have trained more on hills.  By the time I hit the largest hill of the race I decided I would give myself a break and walk up it.  This was mile 10.  Lap pace: 9:41.  After that starts, each walk breaks gets a little easier to allow.  Miles 11-12: 9:25, 9:16. 

In mile 13 we had hit the home stretch and guess what?  Here comes the 2 hour pace group!  Perfect, I’ll draft off them and still hit my goal.  Hey wait, they are now in front of me.  Oof!  Doing my race math I figured I still had a chance of finishing in 1:58 since I had started behind the 2:00 pace group.  Time to give it a go!

I got a fun surprise of seeing my daughter and her boyfriend in the finish chute.  I hit stop on my watch as I crossed the finish timing mat.  1:59:46!  Whew!!  Final sprint to the finish: 8:44 pace.

When I stopped running I felt a very strong pain in my inner left leg, and along my rear side.  It was very high up, near the groin.  It was so painful that I was unable to walk properly.  What the heck??  I’m sure it is an overuse injury which had all of the telltale signs during the past few weeks.  Ugh.  I’ve had pain after races, but this feels very serious.  I didn’t see a massage tent, and maybe I should have went to medical, but I did not.   

I had a major moment of stress when I scanned my race QR timing code and my race results were not listed.  OMG, did I forget to check my bib in?  I worked packet pickup and pulled my own bib and gear – and if I missed a step my bib would not be active for the race.  I kept hitting refresh as I waited for my husband to finish the full marathon.  Oh no.  Then my daughter noticed that other results were not updating and were just odd.  

The next few hours were spent in the party tent trying to warm up and stay dry.  I am not joking – I did not check the weather forecast so I had no idea it was going to rain!  I wish I would have brought a shirt along!  Heck, I put sunscreen on this morning before the race.  So clueless.

We were able to see Alan come down the finish chute.  He was also off his goal time quite a bit due to the humidity, but he did get under 4 hours. And thankfully, he is not hurt!  We enjoyed some beer in the party tent and then it was time to get home for a hot bath and some dry clothes.

The results website came back online Sunday night, and my time was 2:00:06.  I was relieved that my bib had worked, but what the heck, how could 15 seconds be missing.  Very confusing.  Eventually the race results were corrected, and sure enough I did finish in 1:59:41.  Yay, I did it!  

Too bad we didn’t have a better day weather wise, but I alway celebrate crossing that finish line! Now, I need to get this stupid injury fixed so we can enjoy our next marathon together… Berlin!

I’m linking up with the Runners’ Roundup. Thanks to the hosts:  Debbie, Jen, Lisa, Deborah