I had the privilege to run with him twice. The first time we chatted and I mentioned I loved his race description however I had not seen any cows yet. He assured me that the second half there would be cows. The second time I saw him there was 0.3 left in the race and I said, "I"m coming I'm coming as I hobbled/ran." He laughed and said, "Just another 0.3, oh yeah and it is all up hill." I smiled and he said "You're smiling through the pain, that is a good thing."
Let me get some order to this before it becomes a disorganized brain dump.
The race started at 10, in a town about 45 minutes away from where I live, so I hit the road by 8:30 giving me enough time to be sufficiently awake and biologically balanced. The start was at a school called "Bacon Academy" Unfortunately it was not an academy dedicated to the study of bacon, instead it is a school started by a donation from Pierpont Bacon in the early 1800's. I'll spare you the Cliff Clavin monologue.
Checking the weather it was expected to be cloudy, mid 30's, slightly windy, and 30% chance of rain. It misted pretty much the entire drive over and the bigger mist, what I'd refer to as spitting held off until after I was off the course. Talking with a running buddy after the race he did confirm that it felt like it got progressively colder during the race. I thought it had. The weather history isn't confirming anything other than the wind speed increasing, and being sweaty and tired that would make it feel colder!
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| Handy dandy weather thing from the Garmin! |
I was really not feeling this run, my 3 miler mid day on Friday was pleasant, I felt good and was looking forward to Saturday's challenge albeit a little apprehensive about the distance, hills are hills, you just get over them (famous last words). As I ran I figured a good yoga session would help relax and went to Friday night Yoga, new instructor, different sort of class, complete violation of the nothing new rule.
Cutting to the chase: out of 501 finishers I came in 489 and 157 out of 164 for my age group. Chip time of 2:40 12:15 pace. Yes you read that right. The hills did a number on my back, specifically my SI Joint and I ran walked the last three miles.
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| Pace / Elevation at about mile 10 after that long down hill it started falling apart... |
Some fun facts about the Cochester 1/2 Marathon besides 2013 being the 21st running!
2013 Colchester Half Marathon Fun Facts:
- 10:00 a.m. sharp start time – Saturday February 23, 2013 (always the last Saturday in February)
- USATF Certified course (CT112001JHP) certified 13.10938 hilly miles
- Volunteers on every corner
- No t-shirts
- Lots of hills
- No Awards
- Pre-race & post race massages
- Bacon Academy cafeteria post race hearty carbo re-load party, open to runners, volunteers, and their guests
- Mile marks painted on the road
- Some dirt roads
- Bacon Academy High School for a warm & sheltered area to register, pick up your race bib, stretch, and to shower after the race
- Cows & donkeys too
- Professional timing and results
- Rural scenery
- Three Gatorade & water stations out on the course
- More hills
- Camaraderie, tales of woe, and a great bunch of runners
- An Awesome bunch of volunteers
- A loud and encouraging race director
- Sweep car - just in case someone needs a ride back, (f you do hitch a ride you’ll be the last one back!
- The run has a total ascent of 351.05 ft and has a maximum elevation of 620.08 ft.
Will I do it again? Hell yes! Just need to work on strengthening my back although I wonder what hand the vigorous yoga played in my demise.... It was brutal, it was also fun. Next time hubb and I go out to Colchester I will drive him around the course, I'm kind of glad I didn't drive the course or study the elevation profile prior to the race.
Some of my favorite things about this race:
The volunteers at the bottom of a big hill, as I was coming down one hill just after mile 10 the volunteers at the bottom were directing me to turn right and the woman yelled: "You are making this look like too much fun, stop smiling." That made me laugh. I do love to run and that helped remind me of this bizarre passion I have.
Another set of volunteers had a big blow up monkey and was blowing a vuvuzela from a distance it looked rather strange and I welcomed the comic relief.
The cows. They just stood there looking at me, like, I was crazy, I giggled and greeted them good day. What else could I do?
Fellow runners, nearing the end I was getting passed, about 6 people passed me, one noted I had cute socks. They had cupcakes on them. I wonder if this is why I was craving a donut through most of the race? Never fear there was a Dunkin' Donuts on the way home. This is New England you can't swing a dead mouse without finding a DD. (I had a brownie batter filled donut, it was yummy)
The volunteer that said, it is just a nice walk in the country.
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| Yep it is beautiful! |
Beth, who's back is not happy, but overall she is glad she didn't wave down the sweep van.
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