I'm a few weeks past this race and have my next in about a week. This one is run in Elyria, about an hour and a half away, and has been on my list for a few years. The description reminded me of the ORRRC Half so I've been wanting to give it a try. It's run on the Inland Trail which covers a good portion of northern Ohio. I used to run it all the time in Fremont. However, the course was changed last year and features far less bike path than before. I guess a lot of runners complained of the monotony.
Race morning started rough as the forecast called for scattered thunderstorms. I saw lightning strikes toward Elyria on the way up and pulled over to make sure the race was still on. The rain stopped soon after I picked up my packet. I checked the weather again and it looked like we could get the race in, though I'm not sure about the marathoners on the course. The temperature was also high for early November with temps near 60 at the start.
We headed out from the Murray Ridge School for a loop around the west side of Elyria. I felt good from the start but didn't want to overdo it. I ran with a couple marathoners who were trying to stick near a 7:40 pace. We ran together for about the first 6-7 miles. The first and only hill hit during the fifth mile, but it wasn't terribly long or steep. Again, I felt good and was just running on feel since my half training has suffered this Fall. My splits were amazingly consistent over the first five miles. Here are the splits: 7:34, 7:35, 7:33, 7:37, 7:33. I'm not sure if I've ever ran the first miles in a half marathon in such consistent times.
I was surprised that we were still on the road this late in the race and underestimated how much they must have changed the course. The other two runners I was with agreed that they thought we would be on the bike path by mile 5 or so. We finally hit it near the 7.5 mile mark. Again, I'm surprised by the small amount of distance on the path. If you plan on doing that, maybe go on and off the path a few times to completely break up the monotony. ORRRC does this with a short bit on the path at mile 2. I finally left the two full marathoners at mile 8 and just focused on my pace. I was counting the number of returning half marathoners and guessed I was close to the top ten. My pace was still consistent, but I did slow down a bit during this stretch. Here are miles 5-10: 7:37, 7:38, 7:25, 7:47,7:40. Not bad times but I was starting to feel the race.
We hit the turnaround at mile 10 and headed back to the school for the finish. I caught up to another runner who I chatted with during the final miles. We were both shooting for 1:40 times and focused on pushing each other. There's not much to say as we just stayed on the path until the final half mile or so. We pushed each other to the school and finished very strong. My time was a surprising 1:39:53. Here are the final three splits: 7:39, 7:33, 7:36.
What was more surprising than my time is I took 8/76 overall and second in my age group! I was very happy to place in my age group, but I'm more thrilled to break 1:40 for the fifth time in a row. I don't think I'll be so lucky at my next race.
Next race: Amish Country Half Marathon- Berlin, OH
