Race Recap: Ogden Half Marathon {the race}

Spoiler alert: I finished the Ogden Half Marathon. So did Todd.

On the morning of the Ogden Half Marathon, our plan was to get dropped off at the start and meet up with the rest of the family there.  At the last minute the six of us decided to meet in downtown Ogden to get shuttled to the race start together in one of the hundreds of buses lining Washington street.  It was a great decision because the race memories started right then and there with a lively discussion about pre-race pooping.

The race start was foggy and gorgeous.

Runners huddled around “hobo fires” to keep warm in the chilly, mountain spring temps.

We kept warm in our thrifted warm up suits which we later ditched at the start line.

Todd counted on the stupendousness of his carefully waxed mustache to get him through the difficult parts of the race (like the dreaded hill at mile 1).

A half hour before the race start, my girlfriend texted me this little morsel of inspiration.  Todd’s mustache is stupendous, but this had me smiling the whole race (find more Ryan Gosling inspiration at Hey Runner Girl).

A few minutes after that, Todd’s brother and I made our way to the front of the start line crowd.  His brother is fast, but I really wanted to beat him. I had to count on his lack of training & his forgotten GPS watch if I was going to even have a chance. He was going to be “running from the heart” for this race.

photo courtesy of Only in Ogden

I booted up my Garmin, waited for the satellites register but all I got was an error message and a low battery signal (even though it had been plugged in all night).  After three months of hard training and pace recording to reach my PR goal of a sub-1:40 half marathon, it was going to be just me and my pink Team Sparkle skirt (and a constantly beeping and rebooting Garmin) out on the course.  I was going to have to  “run from the heart” as well.  I wondered what my awesome running coach would say about this turn of events.

I paced off two awesome girls for the first 5 miles. They chatted with me, making the first few miles fly by.  They didn’t seem to mind my gasping for the thin air after “the hill” at mile 1.

I saw Todd’s brother for the first 30 seconds of the race and never saw him again. He finished the race in a quick 1:30:23

My 5 mile split time–> 41:19       Pace: 8:26 (but I didn’t know it at the time)

photo courtesy of Only in Ogden

Running around Pineview Dam at mile 5 was breathtaking. It’s a lake I’ve skied on with Todd’s family for years, but it never looked as beautiful as it did that morning.

Then, it was 5 miles of downhill as we followed the river out of Ogden Canyon.  Oh how I loved running that downhill…

…until the moment when a police officer asked me to please “hold on” so he could let an oncoming car pass in the marathon lane. Seriously officer?  I’m running a sub-7 minute pace on a terrific piece of downhill trying to get a PR in a RACE, and you want me to “hold on”?

All I could yell back was “NO WAY!” while I kept running past.

My 10 mile split time–> 1:13:41  Pace: 7:23   (still had no idea what my time was)

The last 3 miles were rough. As fun as five miles of downhill is, it really takes a toll on your legs.

But I never lacked a cheering section (that’s one of the great things about running in a Team Sparkle skirt). Cheering crowds motivate me. And boy did I need it.

Coming down the finish line chute, I heard the family cheering. It was what I needed to completely empty the tank and give it all I had while searching for the official time clock to see if “running from the heart” had given me the finish time I had trained for over the last three months.

And then I saw it.

Finish time: 1:38:27

Needless to say, I was elated.  Looking back, it’s likely I came out with a quicker time than my goal because I didn’t have a way to check my pace. Even so, I’m not sure I’ll ever “run from the heart” again. At least not by choice. It’s scary. And awesome. And scary.

At that moment, I wished my running coach, Dorothy Beal, wasn’t an e-coach so I could give her a huge hug for helping me reach my goal.  Instead I hugged the two strangers I had paced off of for the first 5 miles who came in a few minutes ahead of me.

Todd finished his first and last (he reminds me) half marathon in 2:19:06, steel plates and pins and all (and with his mustaches still coiffed). It was something he never thought was possible (both the running and the groomed mustache).

I couldn’t have been more proud.

P.S. If you have feet issues, you might want to check out these crazy Hoka Shoes. Todd now swears by them.

And a note to all race directors out there: Great Harvest Bread slathered with real butter was THE BEST post race snack EVER.

All six of us who started the half marathon finished it with a whole lot of awesome. There should have been seven, but Todd’s mom (the one who convinced us to run this race in the first place) had to pull out of the race a few months before due to an injury which resulted in knee surgery.  Even though I think she was a disappointed she wasn’t out there on the half marathon course with us, she ran the 5K with some of her grandkids and still her dream of a “family race” came true.

The Results

Time: 1:38:27

Pace: 7:31

Overall: 196 out of 3200

Women: 48 out of 2067

age group: 18 out of 462

-part 2 of 3-

Part 1 – Race Recap: Ogden Half Marathon {the beginning}

Part 3-Race Recap: Ogden Half Marathon {the kids race}

Tagged as: ogden half 2012