Wow! What a wonderful race. For Sunday's Flying Pig Half Marathon in Cincinnati, OH, we really had some rough conditions. Start time was 6:30am so we woke up a little after 4am to get to the start line in good time. I felt like mother nature was trying to turn us away from this race. Torrential downpour, thunder, and numerous lightning strikes had us wondering what time to expect from this race. Tom and I arrived at the start about 15 minutes before go time - 5 minutes later a lightning strike made the power go out. After 5 minutes of curiosity, the lights come back on and we were ready to go. I have to admit, I was not optimistic. In fact, pre-race, I made the comment, "No PR's will be set today." Little did I know....we'll get to that in a few.
The first 4 miles I felt sluggish and soggy, though running a 7:20 pace. Rain was relentless and we were dodging puddles. The route took us from downtown Cincy to Covington then back to Cincy through the industrial park. About that time, I was feeling great.. Little did I know the hills were coming. Around miles 5 through 9 we climbed some tough hills at a 7:35 pace; however, the beauty of the area made up for it. Honestly, I am not too sure what area we were in, but it was gorgeous! The sights had me looking around with no pain in mind. All I recognized is we were by the Krohne Conservatory. After the beauty, the rain took a break and it was time to refocus on the last 4.1 of the race. It turns out all those tough hills were rewarding, because the rest of the race was downhill!!! Tom and I realized I was close to another PR so we kept a good pace through downtown Cincy. Approaching the finish "swine" we let it all out and set a PR for me, by 1:11, for the 2nd week in a row! Here are the unofficial stats:
Overall Place 178 of 26000
Division Place 26 of 521 (30-34)
Gender Place 150 of 3485 (Male)
Through 6.8 Miles: 52:45:11
Net Time: 1:37:43.16
Pace: 7:28
The last two weeks I have set new PR's and also had negative splits, which I have never had. I ran with no pain, nor did I feel anything flaring up. This was just one of those races where everything just felt right.
Race Comments
I have to say, this is the most beautiful, well organized half marathon I have run. The organizers kept everything as perfect as it could be in this crazy weather. Water stops were every mile with Gatorade and water, the route was great, and the vendors at the end had plenty of goodies. The expo was just as good. Everything was organized step by step. If you wanted to pickup your packet and leave you could. And the goodies....we received a tech shirt, a poster,a duffle bag, and solar blanket at the end of the race. In addition, public support was amazing! Through the rain and lightning, spectators line the streets in nearly every area we visited. Kudos and thank you to Cincinnati, the supporters and volunteers, the race director and all the other organizers because this is the best overall race I have participated in.
I will edit the blog when results are official.
HAPPY RUNNING!!!!!
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