Presque Isle Half Marathon

State number ten is in the books.  Last weekend was the Presque Isle Half Marathon in Erie, Pennsylvania.  I really wanted a mid-July half marathon but there was nothing to choose from in Ohio.  With Erie being just under three hours, it was a pretty easy decision.

I can't say enough about this nice, low-key race.  It's held at beautiful Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie.  The organization was top-notch for such an easy-going and inexpensive half marathon.  The best part?  Cooling off with a quick swim after the race.  Seriously, I was not nearly as sore the next day as I usually am after a half.

The day started early as I arrived at 5:45 for the 6:45 start.  Ridiculously early.  But I loved the early start, especially since it got very warm and humid later in the day.  The parking was a breeze thanks to the race organizers, who did a wonderful job considering there were around 400 more runners than last year.  That's a big increase for a race this size.  The limitations to parking out on Presque Isle certainly made it more challenging.  Kudos to the Erie Running Club.

We started off right on time with our first of two long straightaways.  Presque Isle is a long peninsula, so we ran up one side, made a half loop around the tip, and came back the other way.  It's basically an out and back as the scenery does not change much.  There are very few views of the water as trees line both sides of the road during most of the race (yay shade!).  The first few miles clicked off pretty quickly.  I started off at my conservative pace, hitting 8:57, 8:45, 8:47 for the first three miles.  The race really stayed at that pace for me throughout, which was exactly what I was looking for.  Just a nice, easy race with a quick finish, if possible.

There's obviously not much to report on the scenery.  Road, trees, occasional water.  That's pretty much it.  The course was never congested, but I was also never alone for any long stretches.  It was pretty much a simple race by runners for runners.  We came near the turnaround point and I hit the seven mile mark in 1:03 and change.  Again, right where I needed to be.  The sun started to come out, but the tree-lined road kept things comfortable.  The second half went by very quickly and I was able to kick it in during the last three miles to come in at 1:49:55.  I wasn't expecting a sub-1:50 so I'm very pleased with this time.

Training for the Akron Marathon is going well and I'm actually ahead of my goal.  We've got almost two months exactly until the big day.  Only two more (training) races left to go until Sep. 28.

Next race: Scioto Miles 10 Miler- Columbus, OH