Jokers Wild Run 1/2 Marathon Results 7/18/10

Whew, was this a different one. Training was going great but I knew this run was going to be a hot one. We arrived in St. Louis Saturday and had a relaxing day. Eating consisted of Albert Pujols' Restaurant and Joe Buck's. We also got to visit Busch Stadium to watch the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, from 20 rows behind home plate! Gotta love scalpers sometimes. Temperatures Saturday reached a heat index of 105 degrees, which had me hydrating all day. After going to bed early Saturday, I woke up about 5:30 am and prepped for the 6:45am start.
I walked outside and started sweating....... the temp was already at 80 degrees with humidity at 85% and, little did we know, a storm was blowing in..
The Jokers Wild Run 1/2 Marathon was nothing scenic. The route is 2 laps through a business park but there are some long, gradual hills. Here is a breakdown of our race:
Miles 1-4: We averaged about a 7:15/mi pace. With the high humidity my breathing sucked. Tom and I decided that our goal was to finish this race, because the was no PR setting on this day. Miles 2-4 was nothing but a huge gradual incline we thought would never end. I knew this was going to be tough to finish because I had already sweated the amount I normally sweat in an entire race!
Miles 4-6.55: Average pace increased to about 7:30/mi. I remember asking Tom, "You ever feel like you just ran a marathon?" WE WERE ONLY AT THE HALFWAY POINT!
Miles 6.55-10: The second half of this race was a second lap of the course; therefore, there is really not much to say except it was tough to keep energy up. By the 10 mile mark, we were worn out and a tornadic storm was moving in. I ate two Tropical Punch Shot Blocks, put my head down, and kept moving forward. Pace was dropping into the 8 min/mi range.
Miles 10-13.1: This was just a matter of getting to the finish line. The weather was becoming brutal and we were physically and mentally spent. The wind was blowing hard and rain started falling.
Here are the results:
bib number: 562
age: 31
gender: M

overall place: 41 out of 517
division place: 9 out of 40
gender place: 36 out of 274
overall time: 1:45:09
overall pace: 8:02

There is a first time for everything, and I had never seen the race directors ask for volunteers with vans to go out on the course and pick runners up due to weather. That should tell you how bad it was getting. This was definitely the quickest clean up I had ever seen by a race. We finish, went back to the hotel, and within about an hour, they had packed everything up and left! I cannot say a lot positive about the race; the directions to the start were vague and there was not an expo; however, I cannot say a lot negative either. Hydration was to standard, almost at every mile, the had Honey Milk at the finish, which was fantastic!, and they put the runners safety first, which is the way things should be. While it was nothing special or scenic, the directors held an average event with little flaws.
Missouri was a tough state to check of the list and put toward my goal, but I have done it!
Next up is Illinois where I will be running in the Chicago 1/2 Marathon September 12th. I will keep you posted!

HAPPY RUNNING!
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