It’s been almost a month since my last race and motivation
has been an issue. I don’t have another
race until mid-October as W and I have intense work responsibilities right
now. I should be back to normal in
November and hope to finish the year strong.
The last race was the Fall Trail Run in Millersburg. I ran this one in 2014 and was not terribly
impressed, but simply wanted to run a half on Labor Day weekend this year. W and I spent about five days in Traverse
City, Michigan prior this race and I was able to get some nice running around
the lake. Couple that with cooler temps
and I knew I could run a fast time on a very flat and fast course.
This one is very low-key and is completely on the bike
path. There are no major road crossings
and you can really just zone out and run.
Parts of it remind me of the ORRRC Marathon but with fewer runners. I found myself completely alone for the
majority of the race, making it feel like an intense training run rather than a
race. Here is my full report.
Miles 1-5: This race has a really odd start. We begin by heading north on the path for not
quite a half mile before turning around and heading back the other way. I think this is done to avoid the road
crossings we would have to go through if we simply went south. The turnaround didn’t seem as quick as it did
in 2014 and I immediately had the feeling the course would be long. Like I mentioned earlier, this race was small
with only 48 runners in the half (there was also a 10k and 5k). I passed a few runners after the first mile
and a half and was alone from then on.
This might have been a problem if the weather hadn’t cooperated, but it
was a perfect cool day with temps in the low 50s. I felt great and took in the sights. The course was much prettier than I
remembered as the entire course is tree-lined with an occasional
marsh/pond. The first five clicked off
easily. Here are the splits: 1 (7:38), 2
(7:30), 3 (7:30), 4 (7:38), 5 (7:30).
Those are some very consistent splits.
Miles 6-10: I was
clicking off the mileage but started having mild GI issues during this
section. I stopped off at the turnaround
point in the middle of mile 8. I lost
about a minute here but still felt I could get in under 1:40. It was nice to FINALLY see some other runners
as we passed each other near the turnaround. Everyone was really friendly and encouraging
to each other. I think this is
especially noticeable at these smaller races.
Around mile 9 or so I stopped seeing other runners and zoned out
again. The still cool weather was making
my legs feel great this late in a half.
Here are the splits: 6 (7:22), 7 (7:20), 8 (8:25), 9 (7:22), 10 (7:25).
Miles 11-13: Not much
to say! More bike path! Some 10k runners were still out so I was able
to encourage them as I continued on. I
was certain the course was going to be long by quite a bit and I was
correct. My watch measured it at 13.4 at
the finish, so it was off by a wide margin.
Even though I had a feeling that it was long, I still knew I could just
get in with another sub-1:40. The last
mile flew by as I passed some more 10k runners and finally hit the finish with
a solid 1:39:31. Not bad at all! The final splits were: 11 (7:22), 12 (7:15),
13 (6:55). This was good enough for 9/48
overall. I’m very happy with that result
since these smaller races can often bring out very fast, local runners.
The next one isn’t for a while yet and is a 5k instead of a
half.
Next race: Mohican 5k- Loudonville, OH
