Second Sole Made in America Half Marathon

My final half marathon for 2015 was at the Second Sole Made in America Half in Massillon, OH.  We experienced very mild weather for this time of year as the days leading to the race were in the high 70s.  But not on race day!  It was a cold thirty degrees when I left Mansfield at 6:00 on race morning.  This wouldn't normally worry me but I didn't have time to acclimate to colder temperatures yet.  Despite running with pants (for maybe only the third or fourth time ever), I ran a great race and had a good time.  I also ran this one with a good friend, making it a great way to finish my eleventh half of the year.  My only goal for the race was to stay in the 1:45 range.

Packet pickup was a breeze as there was a trailer set up outside the Massillon Recreation Center.  Parking was abundant and I was able to quickly grab my bib and go back to the car to warm-up.  My friend met me there and we did our best to stay warm prior to the start.  Thankfully, there was no wind and the sun came out before the race.  We headed over to the start, about a block away, and chatted prior to the start.

Miles 1-5: We started out on a slight downhill and made our way through a very long straightaway.  My friend and I started out at about a 8:30 pace.  I wanted to help him settle into a nice pace as this was his only race of the year.  I felt pretty good and headed out after the two mile mark to make up some time.  This part of the course had the only hills but they were simple rollers.  It was also not very scenic until we came to the Towpath Trail about four miles into the race.  Then the race got fun as the trail was crushed limestone which felt great!  Plus, the fall foliage looked really cool as we continued farther from town.  Here are the splits for the first five: 1 (8:29), 2 (7:50), 3 (7:45), 4 (7:20), 5 (7:22).  I started out well on pace for a 1:45 or better.

Miles 6-10: I don't have the mile splits for this portion of the race.  After looking at the race site it appears I stuck around a 7:20-7:30 pace.  We hit the bike path on the return back to Massillon and were still treated with crushed limestone trail for a bit before hitting the bike path.  I tucked in with a group of runners for a bit and tried to focus on each mile.  I had been crapping out on a lot of long runs prior to this race but it didn't happen here.

Miles 11-13.1: More of the same bike path.  It felt a lot warmer during the last stretch of this race and I actually rolled up the sleeves on my running jacket.  I felt good and passed five or so people during the past few miles.  The sun felt good and it turned into a beautiful day for a run.  I was able to run a very solid final 5k and finished in 1:42:40, good enough for 85/453 overall.

This race is pretty well organized except for the finish.  I could not find any fruit but there were Subway sandwiches because this race was part of the Subway Ohio Challenge Series. I have very mixed thoughts on the series, but would it be difficult to offer up some fruit or granola bars after a half marathon?  The other issue is that the start and finish were about one mile apart.  My friend (who ran a great race!) and I walked the bike path back to the car and were very thankful it wasn't colder out.  Other than these little glitches I'm looking forward to running this one again next year.

The next race was a dual effort with GF (who is now FW for Future Wife!) on Thanksgiving morning.

Next race: Flying Feather 4 Miler- Dublin, OH