Dayton River Corridor Classic Half Marathon

I headed back to Dayton this past weekend to run the River Corridor Classic Half with some friends.  It was well worth the drive, though there were some snags that we'll get to.  I ran this race in 2010 and almost PRd at the time.  The race is very flat, running along the Miami River and through several parks near downtown Dayton.  The course changes slightly every year due to the never ending construction in Dayton, but it looked pretty similar to the 2010 course.

The drive to Dayton on Saturday was lovely as ever <sarcasm> and I got into town a little later than I meant to.  Packet pickup was a breeze at one of the local running stores.  The shirt is a nice New Balance tech tee.  The 2010 shirts were odd because the sleeves seriously looked like wings.  They were huge.  The new shirts are pretty snazzy.  I ran a few errands (i.e. spent tons of money at Trader Joe's) and then made my way to nearby Xenia to stay with a friend.  The race didn't start until 9:00 on Sunday, so I didn't even get up until around 7:00, which was nice.  As always, I got to the race, at UD Arena, around an hour before the start.

The forecast called for warm temps for Ohio in mid-October and wind.  The temperature was a bit too high for me and I built a good sweat only a mile in to the race, but the wind was the real story of the race.  Running on the path next to the river, lower than street level, made for a wind tunnel.  It wasn't bad for the first half of the race as it was to our backs.  Let's not worry about splits during this race because there was a miscommunication between the organizers and those guiding the runners.  I was running with four others just after a mile in, when we passed someone shouting out times.  13:27.  Umm...what the heck?  We all looked at each other and said, "That can't be the two mile mark," but that's what they were claiming.  I'm usually around 17:30-18:00 for the first two miles.  Someone with a Garmin shouted out that we were actually a mile and a half in to the race.  The other mile markers came in roughly a half mile off and most people are saying we were anywhere from .4 to .5 off.  Regardless, I was running a great race for the first half.  I was at around the 8 mile mark (7.5) an hour into the race.  That would normally be PR territory for me, but I knew I could not count this as a PR.  It does make up for the extra half mile at the Air Force Half Marathon, though.

We ran through several parks and the trees were blocking the wind.  So far, it wasn't much of a factor.  Until we made our way back to the bike path at around mile 9.  Good God.  That wind was relentless.  Seriously.  It was like being smacked in the face for the final four miles.  I also remembered this being the ugliest part of the course, which didn't help at all.  The path is lower than street level and there's really nothing to look at.  Kudos to the volunteers who worked this section.  How they were able to hand us water/Gatorade without being blown away is beyond me.  Again, I didn't really pay attention to my splits during this stretch.  I was more concerned with getting out of the wind.  We finally made our way up to the street with a half mile left and I was (barely) able to finish strong with a 1:44:43.  That would be a PR for me but not since the course was short.  I'm actually not upset about it all.  I would still have broken 1:50 with the extra .4 or .5, which would be my third fastest time.  That's pretty good considering my lackluster training the past few months.  Next up is another out of state race.

Next race: Houston Half Marathon- Houston, TX

Tiffin Fire Department 5k

I ran a race in town last week and, yes, I am a week behind on posting.  This seems to be the trend with my races recently.  Perhaps I just need time to reflect.

The race was held at Hedges-Boyer park here in Tiffin and was very well organized.  The organizers weren't planning for the 300+ people (just under 300 for the 5k, some more for the 1 mile walk) who showed up, but I really thought they did a tremendous job.  The weather was perfect as we seem to actually be getting fall weather this year.  Not much to put down here but let's get to my report.

I started roughly right in the middle of the pack since I was looking for a nice, hard run but not really looking to race.  That changed.  We started off and I noticed the leaders going at what looked like a conservative pace, especially considering how flat it is around here.  I felt pretty good and decided to make my way to where the first group was and see how long I could hold that pace.  We ran through the park and into town, hitting the first mile in 6:34.  That's way too fast for me.  Usually I'm around 7:00.  But I decided to hold on and keep going.  We soon made our way up town to the turnaround and back.  Most of this race was made up of two long straightaways.  No problems having to worry about running the tangents, which is nice.  I was feeling some fatigue when we hit the 2 mile mark, but my time (12:40) made me keep going at the same pace.  The first straightaway seemed a lot longer on the way back.  Imagine that!  We made our way back to the park, wound through the park on the paved path, and I hit the finish in 20:47.  This is, by far, my best 5k time this year.  I've been lucky to get into the 21s this year.  My time was good enough for seventh overall and second in my age group.  More importantly, it gave me some extra confidence heading into a two half marathon October.

Next race: Dayton River Corridor Classic Half Marathon- Dayton, OH