Today, I think I ran the smallest half-marathon in history of half-marathons. There were about 30 people registered for the full marathon and about 60 or so registered for the half. I’m not quite sure even if everyone showed up. I was pretty sure I’d come in last – and I’m not sure yet, but I still think I came in close to last. See, here is a picture Michael took at the start and this is pretty much everyone.
The race started at the La Grave baseball field in Fort Worth and the course was an out and back along the Trinity Trail and ended back at the baseball field. A lot of the course was crushed gravel and, other than getting a few pebbles in my shoes, it was like running on a springboard compared to concrete. And the weather was near perfect at 50 degrees. I was happy. I’m also happy with my unofficial PR time: 1:59:59.
There were a few glitches, the biggest with the timing system and I’m not certain I will even have an official chip time, but there was a guy jotting down everyone’s finish time as they crossed the line. There were also moments along the course when I was totally alone and wasn’t sure if I was going in the right direction. Michael said the lady who won the half was chewing the race director out because the course was marked so poorly in a few places that making decisions on where turn drastically affected her time. (It was an out and back course – and being the most directionally challenged person in the world – if I figured it out then anyone could figure it out.)
I really enjoyed myself this morning. The trail was beautiful and I absolutely loved not being boxed in at the beginning. I forgot how much I love Fort Worth. I will definitely sign up for this race next year.
Donkey is not as happy with my time as I am, he wanted me to run longer so he could nap in the stadium a little more. More pictures here.
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrads on the awesome finish.
You broke two hours? AWESOME! I just love, love, love how you just get out there and race! Congrats on a great half!
way to rock it. doesnt matter if its big or small you still ran 13.1 in PR fashion.
WTG on breaking two hours! I can’t imagine a race that small. The smallest I’ve ever found around here was a 5 miler that had about 200 people.
Nice job breaking 2 hours! Great PR. Personally, I love smaller races. The smaller the better. But it is strange to be alone so much and I’ve had similar concerns about being lost.
Anyway, good work and a great run!
Excellent run susan- Hope u enjoyed some bull ridin’ too?!!
Suz,
Way to run! You are so strong! I know I keep saying that, but it is sooooo true!!!
This looks and sounds like my kind of run. Way to go on the sub-2 half!
Way to rock that half marathon! Wahoo! Sometimes those smaller races are fun, but I prefer bigger races because than my chances of having more people finish after me increases! LOL.
CONGRADS and a good time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
And a good PR!!!!!!!.
Have great time this days.
Groet Rinus.
http://rinusrunning.punt.nl/?home=1
Great job, Susan. Hope we Fort Worth-ians didn’t bore you too much with our out and back along the trinity trails. i run these trails often and would fall asleep if i wasnt worried about sprainng my ankles.
Bomp bomp be bomp be bomp bomp – Satisfaction!
Good for you Susan.
Running on springboards must be pretty nice.
Congrats on your sub 2:00…and even if it was ‘just over’ that, it’s still something to brag about.
Gotta start my squats! Tomorrow! Yeah, that’s it…tomorrow!
(I N S P I R A T I O N…what’s that spell??? you BETCHA!)
Congratulations on your first (of many) sub-2:00 half marathons. All that leg torture is paying off…finally.
sub 2? you rock it sista!
Excellent Run!!
Good job. I wish I could run on gravel more often than I do on asphalt.
You’re wearing shorts. In November.
I still can’t feel my toes.
Enjoy the weather, and congrats on the run!
Brilliant Susan! Sub-2! What impresses me most is you’re now *much* faster than IHateToast
Seriously, all that hard work with Cindy is paying off. Exciting times!
Poor Donkey though – getting dragged out of bed at 5am!
YAYAYAYA SUSAN!!! CONGRATS!!
Way to go…I am glad FW treated you right!
Nice time! I PR’d a half marathon yesterday too and I was feeling pretty good about it until I saw your time. LOL!
I did a triathlon once that had about 30 people total. I was last. Dead last.
Great job and I love the pictures! Donkey is such handsome boy!
Super PR with a sub2! Congratulations!
Susan,
You did not finish last. Two additional runners (me being one of the two) started about ten minutes before 9am and finished at a blazing speed time of 2hrs 40min! I was the guy in the red shirt wearing #222. A lady had also started about 5 minutes after me. I did not see her the entire race except for the turnaround area, but when all said and done our times were within one minute of each other. Weird.
I will also sign up for this race and hope to see/ meet you next year. Agreed, Ft. Worth is very nice and I had forgotten this as well.
Great time. All that training paid off. Congrats.
Awesome! I’m pretty sure I was asleep while you were running this thing.