My final 2016 race, the Amish Country Half Marathon, was just a few days after Thanksgiving. I wanted to get one more half marathon so I could hit another milestone. This counted as my 60th half marathon. I'm still hitting milestones like this every year.
The race took place in Berlin, OH, a quaint Amish community in nearby Holmes County. Much of the area is commercialized as tourism is the top industry. But the Amish in the nearby rural areas were extremely friendly to the runners. It was a different experience than any other half I've ran. W sat this one out as I had to leave for the race around 6:00. I made it in plenty of time to get to the nearby high school for packet pickup. The shirt is very nice, but I was perplexed by the fake beard and straw hat runners received. I know the race is Amish themed but that's a bit much.
It was pretty cold out so I kept my running jacket and pants on for this one. It looked like it was going to rain, but thankfully we never got wet in this one. On to my brief report:
Miles 1-5: We started with a quick lap around the school track and headed south on a small country road. I felt pretty good but knew this race included a lot of hills during the middle portion. I settled in to a comfortable pace and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Many Amish were out to say hello to the runners which was a nice touch. We did hit a few hills during this first portion. They weren't anything major, but they were just enough to slowly wear out the legs. Here are my splits: 1 (7:10), 2 (7:55), 3 (7:56), 4 (7:13), 5 (8:22). My race would remain inconsistent due to the hills. The goal I kept in mind was to gather as many sub-8:00 miles as possible.
Miles 6-10: We continued east on another small country road to continue the loop course. The hills were getting more intense and we hit the biggest of them around mile 7. You can tell that I slowed down quite a bit here, but gained ground on the downhill. I was shocked that these five miles were all under 8:00 miles. My legs were feeling the race. Plus, I forgot to mention that the smell of horse manure (remember, there were buggies and farms all around us) was strong. I'm not used to that smell during a race. Still, I was enjoying the scenery, especially on the hilly portions. I slowed down again around miles 9 and 10 even though this was the flattest part of the course. Here are my splits: 6 (7:18), 7 (7:50), 8 (7:11), 9 (7:43), 10 (7:40).
Miles 11-13.1: We finished the loop on a gradual hill leading back to the school. While it was gradual, it seemed to go on forever! My legs were completely shot and I really wanted to finish the race. We headed back to the school for a quick loop on the track to the finish. Here are the final splits: 11 (8:00), 12 (9:17), 13 (7:35). My final time was 1:43:01, good enough for 31/227 overall and the dreaded 4th place in my age group. This time I was only off by a minute or so, which just drive me nuts. Still, getting my 60th half marathon is quite an accomplishment.
I'll be back with my final thoughts on my 2016 running year.
Next race: ONU Indoor Half Marathon- Ada, OH
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