Half Marathon Results

I am so happy with my first half marathon! My goal was to complete it in two hours. And to be honest, I was thinking that was kind of lofty (which is why I didn't share my goal in my previous post). That's a 9:09 pace. And that's pretty fast for me (for now).

So, I wrote down some goal times (what time I needed to hit certain miles) on my arm so I could glance down and see how I was doing throughout the race. I couldn't believe it when I saw that I was right on track to hitting my goal time!

In fact, I BEAT my goal!

I finished at 1 hour, 58 minutes and 45 seconds! That's a pace of 9:03 per mile!!! I am completely thrilled!

At mile 5, we entered into Bryan Park. And as I was coming around the corner I saw Tom and Murphy - and then my wonderful friends Melissa and Matt and their two girls!! They drove up from Suffolk to surprise me and cheer me on. I was so happy to see them all! And the best part was that we ran through the park and then came back out the way we went in, so I knew the whole time I was running in the park that I was going to get to see them again. That was so uplifting! I think the park was the most difficult part of the course. It was the most hilly, I think.

This is me (blue shirt, white visor) leaving Bryan Park, waving at Tom.



Then shortly after the park, I saw my friend Bethany and her boys. What a great supporter she is! She's a runner, so she knew all the right things to say. In fact, right after we passed her someone running next to me said I had a great cheering section! It was absolutely wonderful to have so much support!

My bib had my name on it, so I would hear people shout my name and say "Go Christy"! It was great! And I wore my Steelers visor. So people would yell "Go Steelers"! It was so much fun!

And a mom from my special needs mom's group (we have dinner together once a month) was on the coaching team for the training group. She rode her bike along the course giving support to the half marathon training team members. So, I got to see her a few times and got her support then, too.

It really was fantastic to have so much support. I was so grateful for all the people who came out (on a cold and drizzly morning) to support their friends - and strangers. There was one stretch (Brook Road) where the support was very thin - and at times non-existent. What a difference it makes to have people cheering for you.

And at the finish, I saw my parents. Unfortunately, I didn't see them until after I finished. But they saw me and they said that they were screaming my name. But, by that time I think I was in such a zone. I saw the time clock on the banner and I saw that it was going to be close to beat the 2 hour gun time. The gun time is when the race officially starts. But, you wear a chip on your shoe to record your personal time, since it takes a while for you to get to and through the starting line. I knew that if the gun time was 2 hours, that I had to be under that, since it took at least a few minutes to start. I crossed the finish line at 2:00:00. It was awesome.

Here's me coming into the finish...







See my name on my bib? Very cool.





After the race we went home and dropped off the kids and the dads and Melissa and I headed back out to support our friends Heather and Neal. They ran the full marathon. We went to Brook Road, since I found that to be the area that was the least supported. And it was around mile 22/23 - so I figured they could use a boost from friends. It felt great to support them. They looked great and had great finishes (4:31 and 4:35).

Natalie, me and Kelly at our celebration dinner that night. I had a great time. I laughed till my stomach hurt. I love nights like that!



Our waitress was not the best. After she introduced herself, somehow it came out that we had run the half marathon that day. She said with much excitement "OH, you ran the marathon"?! We, of course, corrected her and said "No, the half marathon". Then, looking utterly unimpressed, she said "oh. Well, our specials are..." Nice.

So, that's it. I had a great time training and completing my first half marathon. I think I might be addicted. I will definitely run another one. And, if I can find the time, I think a full marathon could be in my future. We'll just have to see...

Thank you to all my supporters! I couldn't have done it without you!