We all had very loose goals for this race:
Alan – finish without injuring himself more! He has had a nagging hamstring issue lately.
Sydney – finish under 2 hours. She did a shorter training cycle and has had sore knees and calves.
Me – finish under 2 hours. Not much else here, just have a good race!
Race day was chilly. The girls debated our outfits but Alan was set on short sleeve shirt and shorts with a few throw away items. I decided on full tights (because they were comfortable) and long sleeve shirt. Sydney chose the same thing (fun fact, she wore my shirt for the race!). I did see a lot of people wearing their race shirts. I got to pick out the colors this year. It’s a good quality shirt. The medal design has been the same for a long time but with different colors each year.
This race is point to point, so we take a bus from the finish line, which is only 4 miles from our house. That means we get to sleep in a bit and wait until the last minute to show up (of course, that’s how I roll!). Race start is 8:30 am, so I didn’t even need to get up until 6:45. A relaxing race morning. The race starts at a high school which is very convenient and comfortable. Side note, they were playing Christmas music on the bus ride. Too soon!! We had just enough time to use the indoor restrooms at the school and take a picture. Soon, we were lined up and ready to go!
The one thing I noticed when I started the race was the my “main competition” was standing on the sidelines of the race, not running. When you run a lot of local races you tend to see the same runners, and know who is in your age group. This person consistently runs faster than me and places above me. Sometimes she does get bumped to a masters or grand masters winner, but not all races have that category. I thought, “hey, I’ve got a good chance today!”
I was not running with a goal pace in mind but just running by feel. This is a hilly course and I have not done any hill work! I set my watch to predict my finish time so I was not worried about my pace being too slow or too fast. This does mess up my math a bit because I have to calculate when I should take a GU. I ended up taking only one during the race, which was fine. The first half of the race it said “1:51” for a finish time, woohoo! At this point I saw my daughter out of the corner of my eye. I did not expect her to be keeping up with me. Good for her! Miles 1 – 3: 8:29, 8:35, 8:29
The course goes through a neighborhood and there was great crowd support. Families, dogs, signs. Kids in banana costumes giving high fives. Love it! And yes, there was a “6 7” sign (ugh!). Miles 4-6: 8:30, 8:34, 8:38. After the neighborhood there was a long stretch down River Road, with a few rolling hills. Miles 7-9: 8:40, 8:45, 8:42 We crossed a bridge and started making our journey to the finish line.
The second half of the race is hilly. My estimated finish increased to 1:53. Still, whooohooo! Somehow I was surprised to see only 4 more miles left. But, there are also 4 more hills! Miles 10-12: 9:00, 9:20 Around this time I was passed by the 1:55 pace group. Uh oh, I better get moving! Mile 13 was the “big hill”, pace 9:05.
Final push through the finish chute was an 8:19 pace. The finish clock showed 1:55… chip time 1:54:59. Oh yeah! It was an exciting finish and I was quite pleased with my time. Icing on the cake was that I got 1st in my age group out of 19. When I looked at my past results, this race was only a minute off of my fastest time on that course. Alan took this picture… I could have sworn I was smiling the whole finish chute. I guess not!
Just a minute later Sydney finished. I saw her boyfriend at two places along the course and each time he told me that Sydney was catching up with me. Finish time, 1:56. Goal achieved! I’m so proud of her!
Alan finished in 1:42 and felt decent. He hadn’t hurt himself any worse than he started, so that’s a big win. Also, goal achieved!
Churchill’s has a party tent with a band, delicious soup and local craft beer. It’s a fun time!
We did get to see Walt Churchill, the man who started this race 58 years ago. He has been a great supporter of the running community and usually hands out medals at the finish line. His health has declined in the past year but he did stop by the race for a bit. He’s 96 years old now.
We had to make a Starbucks run on the way home and then I took a nap. Racing is hard. haha!
A dinner celebration was needed too. Great job runners!
NOTE: I went back to the race results to look up the times for Alan and Sydney, and guess what? My time was adjusted and now says 1:55:00. What the heck?? LAME! I have both a text and email with my 1:54:59 finish time, so that’s what I’m sticking with 😆
I’m linking up with Jenny (RunnersFly) and Jenn (Runs with Pugs).
Oh, well done all of you, that’s superb work! Laughing at your finish straight picture – I have an official one from my last half where I’m actually and visibly sobbing! So yours is fine!
Woohoo! You all crushed your A goals! Amazing. Congratulations!
Thanks, it was a good day! It makes me happy for us to enjoy this sport together.
Well done all of you! How funny with the race time but of course it’s 1:54:59! I’m glad Alan made it without further injuries. How special to meet the man behind the race too!
In past years Walt has put medals on the finishers. I’m glad he could make it there because the race means so much to him. Sadly I don’t think he’ll be around much longer. But he has had a very adventurous and generous life. We should all be so lucky!
Oh yes, stick with that original finish time! Congrats to everyone, and on behalf of middle aged women everywhere, congrats on beating your daughter ; ) Sounds like you had a great race! I love the dinner celebration and festive Starbucks drink- exactly the way a post-race day should go!
My daughter did beat me the first two times she ran this race, so it was time for my comeback! 😁
It’s funny how annoyed I am by that extra second – and I wouldn’t even have know about it if I hadn’t looked again. Geeeez!
I would stick with your original time, too! How rude!
Great job! It looks like you were having a great time out there and congratulations on your AG win! That’s so awesome!
I’m also glad that Alan and Sydney achieved their goals too!
A race and all that cold fresh air? A nap is pretty much mandatory at that point!
Maybe it was the cold air, or maybe it was the beer. LOL Either way, that nap felt great.
How fun to read your race recap, Lisa – I felt I was running with you! Congrats on winning your age group with a sub 1:55:00 time. Yes, absolutely go with the time texted to you – why in the world would they eventually adjust it? Congrats as well to Alan and Sydney!
I guess maybe after the times got loaded into the software it did a different math calculation? Who knows!! They do always state the results aren’t final until … blah, blah, blah. Whatever! 😆
[…] was a recovery week following the Churchill’s Half Marathon last Saturday. If you missed it, here’s the recap! Everything was feeling fine post race, but as the week went on I started noticing some knee pain. […]
Fantastic, Lisa!! There’s nothing sweeter than seeing your main competitor on the sidelines, haha!
Well done on bringing that 1st age group win home!! And of course, I’m with you: that 1:54:59 stands.
I love that your family participated! Sydney quietly matching your gear and your pace made me grin, and Alan cruising a 1:42 on a dodgy hamstring is wild.
Do you have any more races planned this year?
PS: so sorry my comment is late, I missed your post last week!!
Thank you! Sydney raided my closet for running clothes. It’s a perk of being the same size! That is a wrap on the races this year other than a fun Turkey Trot. Time for recovery and rebuilding!