Detroit Free Press Half Marathon

I was pleased with my half marathon time. I finally ran under two hours on this course. Got it done on my fourth try. I wasn't very close to my PR time of 1:55:18, but that didn't matter because I ran a 50K last week. My only goal for the half marathon Sunday was to go under two hours.

I started the race in corral A, which I thought was weird. Corral A is for very fast people. I'm a faster runner, but not that fast. I don't know how I ended up in it. When I registered for the half marathon, I put in my projected finishing time as two hours. Oh well, I was pleased not to start in a huge crowd. When we started running, I stayed off to the side of the street. I didn't need to be in the way of other runners.

The run started off well until getting on the Ambassador Bridge. It was really windy on the bridge. I couldn't feel the wind leading up to that point because the buildings on the street blocked it. The wind on the bridge slowed down my pace by a minute. When I got off the bridge, I really worked to get my pace back to where I wanted it to be. Over in Windsor, practically at the same time, I saw four people that I knew. It was nice to see friendly faces in the middle of the run. I ran with one of my friends for a stretch, but we got separated when I went to the aid station to get a drink. I caught back up with her in the tunnel. She was walking because her hip was bothering her.

Running in the tunnel heading back to Detroit, it was warm and I could tell I was slowing down. Coming out of he tunnel, I ran faster to get back on track once again. At the ten mile marker, my watch read 1:30. I was back on track. Over the last three miles I did slow down. At mile twelve, my watch said 1:48/1:49, I knew I needed to hurry if I wanted to go under two hours. Making the final right turn onto the longer straightway to the finish, I picked up my pace. I did pass some runners heading into the finish line. I crossed the line in 1: 59: 19. Not my fastest half marathon, but it was the my fastest half marathon run in Detroit. I was happy with my time and effort. My legs felt pretty good over the course of the half and I couldn't ask for anything more.

Results
Chip time: 1:59:19
Overall place: 1717/8469
Gender place: 619/5296
Division place: 128/881
6.2 mile: 55:29
7 mile: 1:02:36
8 mile: 1:11;38
12.2 mile: 1:53:15
Tunnel: 9:02
Pace: 9:07