Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon

Well, this one was a pleasant surprise!  I headed over to Canton for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon.  This was the first year for this event and other than some driving issues, it was a great race.  I'm running next week's Capital City Half Marathon, so I didn't have any real goal for this race other than keeping the sub-2:00 streak alive.

I was able to drive to Canton the morning of the race, a little over an hour from Mansfield, due to the brilliant idea of opting for my race packet to be mailed to me.  This was a steal at ten dollars.  I didn't have to get a hotel or anything and I was willing to deal with the early start (I left Mansfield at about 4:30).  This option was well worth it!  Getting to the race was no problem at all.  Parking was at the Stark County Fairgrounds where buses were waiting to take us to Fawcett Stadium for the start.

What I wasn't expecting this morning was the chill.  It was 37 degrees at the start.  In late April.  Many of us were huddled under the various tents set up around the stadium.  It was just crazy cold for this time of year.  I didn't think I'd have to opt for a long sleeve tech tee and gloves but, dang it all, I did.  

Miles 1-5: I started out right at a 9:00 pace for the first couple miles.  There were hills along the course, which I was expecting in Canton.  None of them were too bad but there were a few longer ones sprinkled in there.  We headed south for bit before heading towards the downtown area.  I was surprised at how nice the course was, not really knowing Canton at all.  The downtown was pretty cool and there was good crowd support.  I started picking up my pace to 8:40-8:45 for a few miles.

Miles 6-10: We finish a long straightaway only to go into another one.  This was a good time to pick up the pace.  I hit the 10k in 53:15 which is very good.  The seven mile mark came in about 59:29.  Again, this is awesome.  I usually hit six and a half miles in an hour so I was sure I'd keep my sub-2:00 streak alive.  We hit some more hills during yet another straightaway, but I was really powering up the hills and not feeling the effects.  I hit the ten mile mark in 1:25 and change.  At some point here, I noticed I had a sub-8:00 mile, unheard of for me this early in a race.

Miles 11-Finish: I kept pushing my pace as we made our way back toward Fawcett Stadium.  I passed quite a few people during this part of the course and felt good the whole way.  Thankfully, I was able to push myself while still keeping something in the tank for Cap City.  It was kind of hard to tell how far we had once we could see the Hall again, so I kept powering on and made it to Fawcett for an awesome finish at the 50 yard line.  Final time: 1:45:14.  This was good enough for 246/2046 overall.  We received a very cool football shaped medal and a fleece blanket at the finish!

I'm very happy with how I ran this race.  Posting a sub-1:50 is phenomenal this early in the year, especially considering the nasty winter we had.  I also extended my sub-2:00 streak to 25 races.  My goal is to break 1:45 at Saturday's Cap City Half.

Next race: Capital City Half Marathon- Columbus, OH